Twitter Morris Jones.
Morris Jones was a Crips gang member known as “Petey Gun” who has been identified as the suspect in the February 11, 2022, shooting of his ex-girlfriend and five Phoenix police officers. Altogether, nine officers were injured in the incident.
Phoenix police have now released disturbing body cam video showing Jones shooting at the first officer. You can watch it here.
The first officer was “ambushed” after responding to a call about a woman who had been shot, Sergeant Andy Williams of the Phoenix Police Department said in a news conference.
“When the first officer arrived on scene, he approached the home to help. He was actually invited inside by the suspect — an adult male,” Williams said. “As [the officer] approached the doorway, the suspect ambushed him with a gun and shot him several times. That officer was able to get back and get away to safety.”
Williams said an “adult male” — not the suspect — came to the door while holding an infant.
“He placed that infant on the ground in front of the door, walked toward officers — he was detained,” Williams said.
When officers approached the baby, the suspect again opened fire from the home, striking four of the officers with gunshots, Williams said. Four other officers were injured “indirectly with ricochet or shrapnel,” and two officers returned fire, he added.
Williams said the department’s SWAT team attempted negotiations with the suspect until they eventually entered the home, where they found the suspect “deceased inside” and an adult woman with critical injuries. According to ABC15, the woman — believed to be Jones’ ex-girlfriend — later died of her injuries. The outlet also said it was unclear whether Jones’ wounds were self-inflicted.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Jones, Who Once Told Police He Has ‘Always Liked & Had Guns,’ Has a Lengthy Criminal History
According to ABC15, Jones, 36 — whose full name is Morris Richard Jones III — has been in trouble with the law since age 18 and “spent much of his adult life in the criminal court system.”
The television station reported that Jones’ criminal history includes a stolen car case, federal gun case and more.
He was affiliated with the Crips gang, used the nickname “Petey Gun” and went back to prison for violating probation for using drugs, according to the station.
He was accused in Arizona of “conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit” and given three years probation in the 2020 case but was accused of using drugs in 2021 and went back to jail, the outlet reported.
He was accused in a domestic case in 2021.
One federal complaint obtained by Heavy says that Jones, in 2006, led Tulsa police officers on a high-speed pursuit that resulted in a helicopter joining the chase. He was accused of discarding a loaded firearm, resisted officers and was sprayed with pepper spray, the document says.
Read the complaint here.
“He was subsequently arrested for Possession of Firearm by Convicted Felon, numerous traffic and obstruction violations, as well as five … misdemeanor warrants,” the court document says.
Authorities conducted a search warrant and confiscated a gun and several rounds of ammunition, according to the court record.
The complaint says he told authorities he got his nickname Petey Gun “from his grandfather when he was young” and he has “always liked and had guns.” He said he acquired the guns by trading “crack heads” for “rocks,” the document says.
This court record said he had a large “107” tattoo on his forearm, representing “the set of the Hoover Crips gang of which [Jones] is documented through the Tulsa Police Department as being a member.”
2. Mother-in-Law: Jones Had Appointment Scheduled to Address Mental Illness
BREAKING NEWS: this is video from the scene where 5 @PhoenixPolice officers were shot. You’ll see one man bring out a baby, who is okay. He’s taken into custody — then more shots are fired from the house at police. #azfamily 🙏🏽💙
ABC15 talked with Lakenual Jones, who told the station he’s Morris Jones’ brother. Lakenual Jones said his brother might have been depressed.
“He should have called and said something to let people know that he felt like this and he was going to do this,” Lakenual Jones told the TV station.
A woman who identified herself as Morris Jones’ mother-in-law but didn’t want to give her name also spoke with ABC15.
“My son-in-law was full of anguish anxiety stress and something in his mind just snapped,” she told the outlet. “The following week he had an appointment to address that, but that appointment didn’t happen.”
3. Williams Called the Mass Shooting a Reminder of the ‘Dangers Officers Face Every Day’
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said during a February 11 press briefing that the mass shooting of police officers is an example of the “dangers our officers face every day.”
“If I seem upset, I am,” she said. “This is senseless; it doesn’t need to happen. It continues to happen over and over again.”
4. One Officer Was Seriously Hurt
Blue ribbons being placed on trees on campus of @BannerUnivMed by Cindy & her husband after 5 #Phoenixpolice shot in line of duty, all expected to recover @BlueOpsPHX #fox10phoenix
According to Chief Williams, one of the officers was seriously hurt but is on the “road to recovery.” The other officers are recovering from less serious wounds.
“It’s a reminder of how dangerous the profession is,” she said.
The first officer to be injured was shot multiple times and was injured the most significantly.
5. The Infant Is Safe
The city of #PHX is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community about the nine police officers shot or hurt during an overnight standoff.
As we await updates on their roads to recovery, we thank all @PhoenixPolice officers who continue to protect and serve.
“A baby is safe today because of our Phoenix police officers,” Mayor Kate Gallego said at a news conference, according to ABC News.
According to a press release from Phoenix police, officers with the department’s SWAT unit protected themselves with ballistics shields in order to retrieve the infant that had been left outside the front door.
Sergeant Andy Williams said the infant girl was placed in the custody of Arizona’s Department of Child Safety, according to the Arizona Republic.
The baby’s parents are believed to be Morris Jones and his ex-girlfriend, who both died from gunshot wounds sustained during the February 11 incident.
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