Who is Morris Jones? Phoenix police release video of ambush by shooter Jones
4 min read
Morris Jones ambushed and injured nine officers during a police shootout in Phoenix. A shootout in southern Phoenix left five Phoenix police officers dead and four others wounded last week. The incident occurred at around 2:00 a.m. on Friday, February 11, 2022. A 26-second bodycam video of the harrowing incident has been released by police.
A woman was shot inside a home near 54th Avenue and Elwood Street, according to The New York Post. Later, the suspect opened fire on the officer and struck him in the arm as the officer was being escorted into the house.
Meanwhile, the backup unit arrived on the scene and he continued to shoot. Injuring five officers with shrapnel and ricochets while ambushing four more of them. Shatifah Lobley, the wounded woman’s ex-girlfriend, was later identified as the suspect, Morris Jones.
However, all nine officers wounded at the scene have recently been released from the hospital after recovering from their injuries.
The bodycam video of the police shooting in Phoenix
According to a bodycam video released by Phoenix Police, Morris Jones ambushed an officer with a bodycam while he was in a south Phoenix neighborhood.
An unnamed officer is seen in the video entering a home where a critically injured woman is reported to have been found. The suspect is also heard saying, “Come on. Come on. She’s choking on her own blood.”
Outside the front door, the suspect appears to strike and shoot the officer in the right arm as the officer approaches the house. Another video shows the officer running from the crime scene while screaming, “999 I’ve been shot. I’m coming!”
A series of gunshots can be heard in the background before the video fades to black. According to Arizona Republic reporter Andy Williams, another officer responded to the suspect’s fire and shot back at him. Prompting him to make his way inside the house before firing more shots at the officers.
According to reports, Morris Jones tried to escape by ramming a police car with a car but failed. The woman’s brother, who was later identified as the other man, emerged from the house holding a baby girl.
Additionally, another four officers were wounded by shrapnel and ricochets. During that time, two additional officers returned shots and Morris Jones barricaded himself in the home. He was later found shot to death by himself.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, along with Shatifah Lobley, a woman who was wounded; a one-month-old girl was later taken to the Department of Child Safety. Phoenix police officers have all recovered from their hospitalizations and have recently been released from the hospital.
Who was the suspect in the Phoenix police shooting?
The convicted felon Morris Richard Jones III has been involved in numerous legal confrontations. Jones was a self-described Crips Gang member and father to four children, according to court records obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Jones was reportedly arrested in 2004 in Tulsa on felony charges of stealing a vehicle and released in 2006. After being shot in a drive-by incident, he fled from law enforcement officers with his vehicle.
9 Officers lured into an ambush and shot while responding to a domestic in #Phoenix AZ#PhoenixPolice pic.twitter.com/pyQTZNaaq5
— Oswaldo Royett (@oswaldosrm) February 12, 2022Advertisement
He was arrested after a failed attempt to escape after police searched his apartment for weapons and drugs. The arresting officers reported that he had tossed a loaded pistol before the arrest and was pepper-sprayed during the struggle.
In addition to revolvers, bullets, and guns found in his apartment, police also discovered .22 caliber revolvers. “Felon in possession of a gun” charges were leveled against Morris Jones, and he pled guilty to the charges. According to reports, he told officers that he traded cocaine for guns and he had always been interested in guns.
His grandfather also gave him the nickname “Petey Gunn” because of his love of guns. The two charges that led to his imprisonment in 2007 resulted in an 80-month sentence and probation in 2014.
Then in 2016, he was sentenced to four years in prison for addiction and was in and out of jail. His release from prison occurred in 2019 and he moved to Phoenix. The transport of undocumented immigrants to the US from Mexico led to his arrest in 2020.
Morris Jones, yet another career criminal! pic.twitter.com/E5PeKPbW8R
— JB (@nytude65) February 12, 2022
Ankita Khanrah
Ankita Khanrah is a second-year student of the Master of Communication and Journalism (Integrated) programme at the School of Mass Communication, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar.
