PHOENIX — Police say two brothers are dead after they were shot by police Tuesday night at the scene of a domestic dispute in Phoenix.
Officers were called to a home near 22nd Street and Indian School Road around 8:45 p.m. when a woman called to say her adult son was acting strangely. When officers arrived at the scene, the woman exited the home and said her two sons were arguing and one was armed with a rifle.
Responding officers saw both men inside with firearms and before going into the backyard while police were securing the scene. Officers gave verbal commands and noticed that one of the men was still armed with the rifle as they continued to argue.
Authorities say the man with the rifle then proceeded to point the weapon at his brother and officers, prompting two officers to fire their service weapons at the suspect.
Both men were struck by gunfire and one died at the scene. The other man died at the hospital. Police identified the men only as being 43 and 44 years old.
ABC15 spoke with an uncle, Bill Mendoza Martinez, Jr., who identified the men as brothers, George Cocreham, 43, and Emmet Cocreham, 44.
The uncle also told us that a relative heard banging and commotion in the house during a phone call with the mother of the brothers and called police for a welfare check.
Police say a rifle and a BB gun resembling a firearm were recovered from the home.
No officers were hurt during the incident, but the two officers involved in the shooting have been identified as 27-year-old officers with between three and four years of service.
Mendoza Martinez, Jr., says his nephews had a tragic mistake on both their parts, and he does not blame police for their deaths.
