The Tucson police officer who shot and wounded a gunman during a mass shooting this month downtown has been identified.
Officer Tanner Wolverton was one of the patrol officers who ran toward gunfire about 2 a.m. July 19 downtown in the 100 block of East Congress Street.
Security video from a camera at Empire Pizza & Pub, obtained by the Arizona Daily Star, shows a gunman firing shots down East Congress Street in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 19. David Leroy French was accused of firing the shots, which injured nine people. After firing the shots, the gunman ran down Congress toward Tucson police officers who were on the street, one of whom fired a shot that struck and wounded the gunman.
As officers tended to several wounded people, Wolverton came across the gunman who was running nearby, the Pima Regional Incident Team said in a news release.
After the gunman refused orders to drop his gun, Wolverton fired his department-issued weapon. The gunman was struck and officers immediately started first aid.
Wolverton
The alleged gunman, David Leroy French, 21, was then taken to the hospital.
Neither Wolverton, who has been with TPD for 7 years, nor any other officers was wounded. Nine people were wounded in the initial shooting which occurred during a confrontation near Congress Street and North Sixth Avenue. No injuries were fatal.
People are also reading…
French faces nine counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, nine counts of aggravated assault causing serious injury and one count of discharging a firearm at a structure, the release said.
French is still hospitalized, the release said.
The PRCIT is the multi-agency group that investigates local officer-involved shootings.
Investigators from the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team examine the downtown Tucson crime scene where nine people were shot and wounded early on July 19.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department is leading PRCIT's criminal investigation. Tucson police is conducting a simultaneous administrative review.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line.
