Audio By Carbonatix
A man who placed an ad on backpage.com for an AR-15 assault rifle had the gun stolen from him — then shot at the fleeing suspect with a handgun, hitting a Valley Metro van.
The messy gun deal went down in the parking lot of Sportsman’s Warehouse, 1750 South Greenfield Road in Mesa, at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday, cops say.
The victim, whose name wasn’t released, met the supposed buyer outside the store after the man responded to the ad. The suspect hopped in the seller’s truck and pulled out a handgun. Seconds later, he exited the truck with the victim’s rifle, cell phone and truck keys.
The suspect jumped into his small sedan, a blue or gray Ford Fusion or Taurus, and drove off. That’s when the victim drew his own handgun from an ankle holster and snapped off three rounds in the suspect’s direction.
When news happens, Phoenix New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
Police later found that one of the rounds had hit a parked Valley Metro van. No word on whether anyone was inside, but there were no injuries reported. (Under Arizona law, by the way, no legal protection is offered for someone who shoots an innocent bystander, even if the person’s use of deadly force is justified.)
A Sportsman’s Warehouse manager wasn’t available for comment. Cops say the store’s surveillance cameras weren’t pointed toward the location of the transaction.
