Officer Down

Phoenix police officer David Uribe was shot and killed after pulling over a car at the intersection of Cactus Rd. and 34th Avenue on Tuesday morning in what was characterized as a 'routine traffic stop' gone horribly bad. Police immediately began a search of the area and are still today engaged in a manhunt for the two suspects believed to have been driving that car.

When we moved here in 2002, we lived in an apartment at 31st Ave. and Thunderbird, only about a mile north and slightly west of where this incident occurred. Locally the area is 'named' for the MetroCenter mall located at Peoria & I-17. On the whole, the MetroCenter neighborhoods are nice.

Locally, they epitomize the concept of a middle-class neighborhood; homes date back to the 70's, they are nice as can be given their age; the families in the area work and most work hard and keep a good house. It's not as well off as the area we moved to, but it is nowhere near as troubled as other parts of town to it's south and west. These people have had their sensibilities shaken after David Uribe's murder:

"This is about the angriest I've ever heard people be. They feel like this is such nonsense, and it's so unbelievable and intolerable," said Sharon Knutson-Felix, executive director of the organization. "Their frustration and their anger has caused them to dip into their pockets, wanting in some way to offset the loss and the hurt for the Uribe family."

Sometimes you can't foresee the ways that a seemingly distant tragedy can reach you. As I've mentioned before, my wife is now a staff-member at our church, working in the pre-school office.

Officer Uribe was father and step-father to 7 children. Turns out that several of his step-children have been and are involved with North Pheonix's pre-school programs. In addition, the mother of one of my wife's coworkers works at the Cactus Park police precinct.

Before the shooting, Uribe had been checking license plates in an apartment complex parking lot. One plate came back stolen, and the dispatcher asked if Uribe was with that vehicle, Phoenix police Cmdr. Kim Humphrey said.Uribe told the dispatcher that the vehicle was being driven away and he was "trying to catch up with it to verify."

Police aren't sure if Uribe knew he had the right vehicle or if he was sure he had entered the license plate correctly when he stopped the car. Uribe notified dispatchers that he was going out with the vehicle and gave the plate number. There was no contact with him after that, Humphrey said.

She took that call. The North Phoenix Baptist family hurts with Officer Uribe's wife and children and friends. They are outraged just as residents of the MetroCenter neighborhoods are that this would happen.