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Tucson shooting: 1 dead, 4 injured by suspect, 3 missing children from house fire located

The gunman flagged the ambulance crew down and pointed them in the direction of the nearby residential fire before shooting them

TUCSON, ARIZONA:  In a bizarre turn of events in Arizona on Sunday, July 18, one person died and four others were injured, included EMTs, following a deadly shooting. At the same time, there was a house fire where a charred body was discovered and so were three children missing. 

The latest update about the series of incidents, confirmed early Monday morning by the Tucson Police Department, is that the missing children, associated with the fire-ravaged home, have been located. However, details about their whereabouts have not been publicly released. Neither has the 35-year-old suspect been identified who opened fire on an ambulance crew at around 3:45 pm in Quincie Douglas Center. Some of the other shootings that have recently made news happened in Brooklyn, Rochester, Bronx and Austin. 

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What happened in Tucson?

It all started Sunday afternoon in a park when a shooting spree ensued at the scene of a house fire and concluded with police shooting the suspect after a standoff. The connection between the shootings and the house fire is not yet clear or if there is indeed a connection. 

The suspect shot the 20-year-old driver of the ambulance operated by American Medical Response in the head and a 21-year-old female EMT who was seated in the passenger seat in the chest and arm. While the woman is in a stable condition, the man's health condition is critical. The EMT was able to provide a description of the gunman and the silver SUV he was driving to the police. The gunman flagged the ambulance crew down and pointed them in the direction of the nearby residential fire before shooting them, the police said. 

The suspect then drove to the scene of a house fire and opened fire on neighbors and firefighters who were trying to douse the flames. In the process, a 44-year-old neighbor was shot in the head and killed. One of the firefighters sustained bullet wounds in the arm. Another bullet grazed a second neighbor's head. The first responding officer was also shot at by the suspect after the former encountered him a couple of blocks from the burning home. The gunman rammed his SUV into the officer's vehicle and began shooting as soon as the officer stepped out of the patrol car. The eight-year veteran who was not injured during the exchange. He returned fire and shot the suspect, leaving him in "very critical condition."

"This is both a highly tragic, really horrific incident with many unknowns at this time," Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said during a press conference. At the time he added that a "badly burned" body was found inside the house in flames, and "two or three" kids who lived in the house were missing. Officials requested for public's help in finding the children.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero thanked the police and fire departments via series of tweets Sunday night. "I ask our entire Tucson community to join me in thinking about and praying for the victims of this afternoon's fire and shooting by Silverlake Park, including first responders from AMR and the Tucson Fire Department. This was a horrific and senseless act of violence," she tweeted. Thank you to the men and women at @Tucson_Police, @TucsonFireDeptand all of the first responders and neighbors who courageously responded to the scene, knowingly putting themselves in danger."