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An armed Amazon worker stopped a shooter who opened fire outside a warehouse in Arizona

Katie Balevic   

An armed Amazon worker stopped a shooter who opened fire outside a warehouse in Arizona
International2 min read
  • A man pulled up to an Amazon warehouse in Arizona and opened fire, injuring one employee, police said.
  • A different employee who was armed opened fire and subdued the shooter, Chandler police said.

An armed Amazon worker stopped a shooting after a man drove up to an Amazon warehouse employee parking lot and opened fire, Arizona police said.

Police in Chandler, Arizona, said Jacob Murphy, 29, drove to the warehouse's employee parking lot and opened fire on an employee, Fox 10 Phoenix reported. The incident unfolded at around 9:30 am local time on Wednesday at an Amazon Flex Warehouse in Chandler, Arizona, Chandler Police Department Sgt. Jason McClimans said at a press conference. The suspected shooter was the only fatality.

One employee of the warehouse, a contract worker for Amazon, was shot multiple times by Murphy, McClimans said at the press conference. That employee was taken to the hospital with critical injuries but is expected to survive, according to Fox 10.

A second contract worker at the facility was armed and fired at Murphy, subduing him, police said. McClimans said the case was not being considered an active shooter situation, and there are no other suspects.

"The suspect in this case, who is not an Amazon employee or an Amazon contractual employee, is the shooter in this case, and he was pronounced deceased here at the scene. The investigation is ongoing," McClimans said. "We don't know what the mindset of our shooter was, but it's very likely though that the contract employee that returned fire on the shooter could have stopped an active shooter."

A spokesperson for the police department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Police have not released the name of the "good Samaritan," nor the name of the shooting victim, according to local news outlet, Arizona's Family.

"He did come to the aid of an individual who was shot by a suspect. So, in that case, I would say he is a good Samaritan, but obviously, the investigation is still ongoing," McClimans said at the press conference. "Murphy was pronounced deceased due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound and gunfire from the third male."

On Friday, police said the men involved in the shooting were strangers to each other, but that Murphy sought out his victim by name, according to Arizona's Family. Murphy's girlfriend also worked at the Amazon facility, and Murphy went to the facility in order to confront the victim because Murphy had "jealousy issues" with regard to his girlfriend, McClimans said, according to Arizona's Family.

"The victim contacted Murphy in the parking lot, feeling something was strange and attempted to get Murphy to exit the property," McClimans said, according to Fox 10. "This is when Murphy shot the victim numerous times. The third male, hearing and observing the shooting, used his gun and fired upon Murphy, protecting the victim."

Amazon spokesperson Richard Rocha told Fox 10 that the company is "deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence in our parking lot."

"We're working closely with law enforcement as they investigate and are focused on supporting our team during this difficult time," Rocha said, per Fox 10.


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