Blue Alert issued as search for driver continued.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested after firing at an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper on Thursday morning in Phoenix, the department said. No one was injured in the shooting. 

A DPS trooper was in a vehicle near 37th Avenue and Portland Street just before 9 a.m., DPS Director Heston Silbert said in a news conference on Thursday evening. He and another trooper were in the area to serve a warrant, Silbert said.

The trooper was sitting in his vehicle alone, “uninvolved,” when “completely, unexpectedly he was ambushed,” Silbert said. The trooper is a detective and was in an unmarked vehicle but was wearing a vest that said “police,” according to DPS. 

A driver in a silver Infiniti with custom wheels and temporary plates pulled up alongside the trooper’s vehicle and honked the horn, at which point the passenger got out of the Infiniti and shot an AK47 assault pistol at the trooper, Silbert said.

The trooper was exiting his vehicle as at least two shots were fired into the location where he had been sitting, Silbert said. It was unknown how many gunshots were fired.

The other trooper arrived at the scene and both troopers returned fire, Silbert said. The driver fled, leaving the shooter at the scene.

Officials said the boy was arrested and the gun was recovered from the scene. The Arizona Republic is not identifying the teen because he is a minor.

The driver who transported the shooting suspect was still at large as of Thursday evening, Silbert said. Law enforcement asked for the public’s help in locating a silver 2013 Infiniti G37 with custom chrome wheels. It has a temporary plate and appears to have chipped paint below the license plate area, DPS previously said.

Members of the public are asked to call 911 if they spot the vehicle or have any information.

Blue Alert issued

Following the shooting, the department issued a Blue Alert, which is deployed following a “violent attack upon a law enforcement officer” to immediately notify the public that the suspect is on the loose, according to DPS.

The alert lacked details and some criticized it as confusing. At the news conference, Silbert said that, while it was DPS’ counterterrorism center that sent the alert, details somehow got lost in the process as it was sent to the vendor. 

“It came out quite frankly as a bit of a surprise to us,” Silbert said. He called it a “glitch.”

“All of us, I think everybody in the state basically was looking at it saying, ‘What am I looking at here?'” Silbert said. “That was not (only) lost on all of you, it was lost on us as well. It was part of the system we’re going to have to remedy.” 

DPS director condemns violence against law enforcement

Thursday’s shooting was the second shooting of an officer in Phoenix this week. James Carr was arrested on suspicion of shooting a court security officer during a drive-by shooting outside the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthousein downtown Phoenix on Tuesday morning.

“I’m disgusted by the actions of people toward law enforcement that I’ve seen take place in this country over the past several months,” Silbert said.

U.S. Marshal for the District of Arizona David Gonzales said of recent attacks on law enforcement that he has “never seen anything like this” and “nothing that has reached this level and the rhetoric that has been going on nationally.”

When asked whether DPS troopers might start patrolling in pairs after news earlier this week that Phoenix police will start patrolling the streets as two-person units, Silbert said no. 

“The Department of Public Safety, for lack of a better word, doesn’t have the luxury of two-man units,” he said.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8529. Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank. 

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