Detective involved in fatal shooting in Arizona identified

The sheriff’s detective involved in a deadly encounter with a drug suspect in northwest Arizona earlier this week is the son of Kingman Police Chief Bob Devries, authorities said Friday.

Mohave County Sheriff’s Detective Aaron Devries, 30, a 12-year department employee, has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is customary after an officer-involved shooting.

The Bullhead City Police Department is conducting an independent investigation of the shooting but has not released any information yet. Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster said a DEA agent also involved in the incident has not yet been identified.

Schuster said officers engaged in a pursuit on Tuesday of a Ford Escalade driven by a man connected to a drug-related search warrant served hours before the shooting. The officers chased the man on foot into the desert after he exited the vehicle and opened fire when he raised a weapon and pointed it in their direction, he said.

Neither of the officers was injured, Schuster said.

The Sheriff’s Department said in a press release on the shooting that the suspect “allegedly” fired his weapon at the officers.

Authorities have not yet named the dead man.