Deputy shoots kills suspect
Is placed on leave after shooting death

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A member of the Apache County Special Response Team has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the Wednesday shooting death of an Eagar, Ariz., man.

The Special Response Team was called around 12:40 a.m. to assist Eagar Police Department with a domestic violence incident involving 31-year-old Michael J. Bockus, who reportedly had barricaded himself inside the residence and was pointing a gun at officers on the scene.

Eagar Police responded to the call at 10:14 p.m., and then called Apache County dispatch at 10:42 p.m. and requested the assistance of the Special Response Team to help control the situation.

Apache County Sheriff Brian Hounshell said officers made several attempts to talk Bockus into laying down his weapon and coming out of the residence; however, Bockus refused and repeatedly threatened to shoot the officers.

Five members of the Special Response Team arrived around 12:30 a.m. and began assembling an emergency response team, at which time Bockus called dispatch and advised that he "would start dropping people" if officers did not leave.

Hounshell said the last telephone contact with Bockus was around 12:37 a.m. Immediately afterward, Bockus came out of the residence carrying a rifle, and walked directly toward members of the Special Response Team and officers from Eager and Springerville Police departments.

Special Response Team members tried to talk Bockus into putting down his weapon, Hounshell said, but Bockus made several statements to them, indicating that he would not allow himself to be arrested and that he would shoot at the officers.

At one point, as team members continued to talk to Bockus, he placed his rifle on the ground, then picked it up and raised it in the direction of Special Response Team personnel.

At that point, the sheriff said, a member of the Special Response Team was forced to shoot the suspect, striking him in the upper torso.

Officers and deputies at the scene immediately rendered first aid to Bockus and secured him until emergency medical service workers arrived on the scene around 12:49 a.m. Bockus was stabilized and was being flown from Springerville airport to a trauma center in Scottsdale, Ariz., when shortly after takeoff, medical personnel advised that he had taken a turn for the worse.

The flight was diverted and landed at a hospital in Showlow at 3:39 a.m. Bockus was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound at 3:47 a.m.

The Apache County deputy involved in the shooting, whose name was not released, was placed on leave, in accordance with sheriff's office policy, pending outcome of the investigation.