PHOENIX — New documents are revealing more on what happened Sunday morning when two Phoenix police officers were shot at and injured.
At about 1:00 a.m. March 13, two officers were at a QuikTrip near 19th and Glendale avenues when they spotted a white Chevrolet station wagon.
When they ran the license plate, they were notified that the owner had a felony warrant.
When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver, later identified as 18-year-old Javon Beasley, did not stop and officers say they witnessed the vehicle speed through several red lights. The officers then lost sight of it.
They eventually caught up with the vehicle near 27th Avenue and Bethany Home Road.
At that point, a second patrol vehicle pulled behind the officers and they followed it east on Maryland Avenue from 27th Avenue.
While driving down Maryland Avenue, somebody started shooting at the patrol vehicles, firing several shots.
The driving officer was wounded by shattered glass while a passenger officer was shot in the wrist.
On Monday afternoon, authorities confirmed that the officer who was hospitalized from this incident has since been released.
The officer injured in this incident has been released from the hospital and is recovering. The officer and family thanks everyone for their support. https://t.co/uY111sz3ur
— Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) March 14, 2022
The officers then activated their emergency lights and pulled the vehicle over after it attempted to get away a second time.
Once it came to a stop, records show Beasley jumped out and tried to run away from the scene, running through a nearby apartment complex parking lot.
He was stopped by other officers and arrested. During an investigation, investigators located a gun in the footpath that Beasley traveled while trying to get away.
Investigators also found at least 18 9mm casings in front of the apartment complex, believed to be where the suspected shooter was standing, according to court records.
Beasley was booked into the Maricopa County Jail for felony flight charges. He reportedly admitted to being the sole occupant of the vehicle and claimed he did not pull over because he was afraid of being assaulted by officers.
Beasley has since been release from jail.
Investigators later viewed data from Beasley’s phone and saw an eight-minute outgoing call from his phone to a subject listed as “Big Bra.” According to a police report, the call of the time would have been the same time as the shooting.
It was later discovered that the phone number, listed as “Big Bra,” belonged to Devonte Thornton, the older brother of Beasley.
Records show that the two lived together in the apartment complex with two others, in the same area where the shooting happened.
Within minutes of the shooting, a witness told police they saw Thornton enter his apartment with what appeared to be a handgun tucked in his waistband.
The witness told police Thornton was frantic and asked for bleach. A short time later, Thornton handed the bottom half of the gun to a second witness and asked them to put it away.
The witness told investigators Thornton was frantic and mentioned he was on the phone with his brother.
Police say Thornton then went to the apartment of an acquaintance and remained there until he was contacted by police.
A search warrant was issued at the apartment and Thornton was arrested for an unrelated felony warrant.
Inside Thornton’s apartment, police found a backpack with the bottom half of a handgun, three small baggies of cocaine, and parts of another gun.
During the investigation, authorities were able to identify a connection between the gun parts found in the apartment and the casings found at the shooting scene, according to a police report.
Thornton was interviewed post-Miranda and claimed he was asleep in the apartment when the shooting happened. He denied owning a gun and a cell phone and stated he had no phone contact with his brother Beasley around the time of the shooting.
Investigators later learned Thornton was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon, as a felony, and placed on probation for two years in 2014 in Missouri.
Authorities found out that he had an extraditable felony warrant from the U.S. Marshals Service out of St. Louis.
He was then booked into the Maricopa County Jail and is facing multiple charges including two counts for attempted first-degree murder.
