The Pima County Attorney's Office has determined that a sheriff's deputy was justified in shooting a man to death during a violent confrontation last week west of Tucson.
Deputy Matthew Salmon and Deputy Bruce Haufe were wounded in the shootout that left a suspect in a domestic violence dispute dead Feb. 29 in Avra Valley. Salmon shot and killed the armed man as Haufe struggled with him.
The Attorney's Office, in a letter stating it had declined to file charges against Salmon, offered this account of the incident in the 5500 block of North Anway Road, resulting in the death of Vincent Samuel Azzarello, 25:
Salmon and Haufe went to the home after Azzarello's girlfriend reported to authorities that he had threatened her with a gun.
Unknown to the deputies, the woman called Azzarello to warn him the deputies were coming. He responded that he would not be taken into custody.
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Deputies arrived and saw Azzarello leaving a mobile home and making his way to a large outbuilding. They called to him, but he continued on, prompting the deputies to run after him.
Azzarello entered the building, but the deputies did not go in after him because they had been told he was armed. They remained outside and ordered him to come out.
Soon Azzarello came out on a four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle. Haufe tried to unseat Azzarello, which resulted in a fight.
Salmon used his Taser. But Azzarello continued to resist, so Salmon used his stun gun again, with no effect.
As they struggled, Azzarello pulled out a handgun and fired close to Haufe's head, causing an internal injury to Haufe's ear. As Azzarello fired a second time, Haufe reached for the gun to move the barrel away from Salmon. Salmon then fired his gun, hitting Azzarello in the head numerous times.
Salmon was shot in the chest but was wearing a bulletproof vest, which saved his life. Haufe was either struck by a bullet in the hand or was injured when he was reaching for Azzarello's gun.
"The officers were given no choice but to respond with deadly force," Rick Unklesbay, of the Pima County Attorney's Office, wrote in the letter.
Salmon's attorney, Mike Storie said, "Both deputies acted quickly and heroically."
