Investigators said a firearm was found near the 17-year-old after two officers opened fire during a foot chase.
MESA, Ariz. — Two Mesa police officers fatally shot a 17-year-old driver early Tuesday after authorities said he fled a traffic stop, abandoned or left his vehicle near another intersection and ran from officers, prompting a foot chase that ended with gunfire.
The encounter began at about 1:42 a.m. Oct. 27 near Extension Road and University Drive, according to information released by the Mesa Police Department. Officers stopped a vehicle and contacted the people inside, but police said the driver sped away while officers were questioning the occupants. Officers later found the vehicle less than a mile away near Country Club Drive and Sixth Street. Police said they saw the driver running from the area.
At about 1:58 a.m., two Mesa officers fired their weapons and struck the driver, according to the department’s initial account. Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. Police said a firearm was found near him. No officers or other members of the public were reported injured. Local news organizations later reported that police identified the person killed as a 17-year-old Mesa resident. His name had not been publicly released.
What happened in the final moments before the officers fired remains under investigation. Mesa Police Detective Robert Katz said Tuesday that investigators were still working to determine whether the teen pointed the firearm at officers. Police had not released a detailed account of what each officer saw, whether commands were given or what specifically caused the officers to use deadly force.
The department’s initial statement said only that the two officers discharged their firearms after the driver was seen running from the area. Katz told reporters that a gun was located next to the person after the shooting. Authorities have not publicly identified the officers who fired or released additional details about the firearm. The limited information means investigators have not yet provided a complete sequence of the confrontation.
Police initially said other people had been inside the vehicle during the traffic stop and that investigators were working to locate and interview them. Later Tuesday, Arizona’s Family reported that police said all four people who had been in the vehicle had been contacted. Authorities have not publicly described what those occupants told investigators or whether any of them witnessed the shooting.
Katz said investigators considered the shooting an isolated incident and did not believe there was an ongoing danger to the community. The police response temporarily closed portions of Country Club Drive and Sixth Street as investigators processed the scene. Officers and a police helicopter were seen searching the surrounding neighborhood during the early-morning response, according to local television reports.
Residents near Sixth Street and Country Club Drive described waking to a heavy police presence in their neighborhood. ABC15 reported that neighbors saw officers and heard a helicopter circling the area. Some residents told the station they were concerned by the violence occurring so close to their homes. Police said no community members were hurt during the encounter.
The Gilbert Police Department is leading the investigation into the shooting through the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team. The regional team investigates critical incidents involving law enforcement officers so that an outside agency can take the lead in reviewing a shooting involving another participating department. Mesa police said a critical incident briefing video is expected to be released after the investigation is completed.
Initial accounts published Tuesday morning described the person killed only as an adult man or male driver because authorities had not yet released his age. Later local reporting identified him as a 17-year-old. Authorities had not publicly released his name as of Tuesday night, and investigators had not announced a conclusion about whether he displayed or pointed the recovered firearm before officers fired.
The investigation remains active under the direction of Gilbert police and the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team. Additional evidence, including the officers’ accounts and any available video of the encounter, had not been publicly released as of Tuesday night. No timeline for completion of the investigation was announced.
Author note: Last updated October 27, 2026.