Free Republic

1 hour, 7 minutes ago PHOENIX - David Spade has donated $25,000 to the family of a slain Phoenix police officer. The 43-year-old comedian said that after reading about Officer Nick Erfle's death last month, he was "hit out of the blue" by the shooting and the fact that Erfle had overcome cancer to return to duty. "I'm from Arizona so I'm always a little aware of things that are going on there," Spade, a Scottsdale native, told The Associated Press on Monday. "It just struck me as such a rough situation just because cops in general get kind of...

State lawmaker Russell Pearce says Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon is wrong to blame the federal government for Officer Nick Erfle's death at the hands of an illegal immigrant. "That blame also belongs at the local level. We have an obligation to protect our citizens and enforce our laws, our citizens have a constitutional right to expect our laws to be enforce," says Pearce. He is critical of a Phoenix policy that bans police from arresting illegals when their only offense is violating federal immigration laws. Pearce says Phoenix is sanctuary city. "To ignore the obvious and not enforce the laws...

PHOENIX (AP) - A Phoenix police officer was killed Tuesday by a man who was himself later fatally shot as he pointed a gun at a carjacking victim's head. The officer, 33-year-old Nick Erfle, had been trying to arrest the suspect on a warrant when the two got into a fight. The suspect pulled his gun and fired, police spokesman Sgt. Joel Tranter said. As Erfle was taken to a hospital, police scrambled to find the suspect. The man had run away, flung open the passenger door of a car stopped in traffic, pointed his gun at the man inside,...

A Phoenix police officer shot in central Phoenix this morning has died. The officer was pronounced dead at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital. The suspect who shot the officer fled the scene near 24th Street and Thomas in a stolen car, but was located by police around 9:30 a.m. The suspect was apparently armed and had a hostage when crews located his stolen vehicle near 24th Avenue and McDowell. When the suspect threatened officers as they tried to arrest him, he was shot and killed. The original officer-involved shooting that prompted this second incident happened around 8:30 a.m. Police stopped one...