Woman kills self after short police chase in Tempe

A young woman shot and killed herself Friday after a short police chase in Tempe.

According to Lt. James Warriner, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, officers got a call from Mesa police to try and find a suicidal person at 3:10 a.m.

Warriner said a DPS officer spotted the car with the woman, who is about 24 years old, inside a car parked in front of a home near Elliot Road and Interstate 10.

The officer sat behind the woman while he waited for other officers to arrive, but she drove away.

She refused to stop for the officer and sped away before pulling into a parking space in front of a convenience store at Priest Drive and Warner Road.

“As the officer stepped out of the vehicle he heard a gunshot,” Warriner said.

Katie McDevitt, Tempe police spokeswoman, said Tempe police will investigate the suicide. Warriner said DPS will conduct an investigation of the officer’s actions, which is routine in significant incidents.

Police shoot and a kill suicidal woman in Tucson

Tucson police say an officer fatally shot a suicidal woman after she pointed a gun at police.

Tucson police spokesman Officer Chuck Rydzak said Sunday that officers went to the woman's home Saturday night after she sent a text message to family members telling them goodbye.

Officers heard loud music coming from 57-year-old Joanna Lee Smith's house when they arrived. Smith refused to open her door and told officers to "just go away.''

Officers then heard a single shot from inside the home.

They evacuated nearby residents and tried to contact Smith by knocking on the door, calling her phone and using a loudspeaker from a patrol car.

That's when officers began to break into Smith's window. As they broke a front window, Rydzak says Smith pointed a gun at them.

Officer Daniel Spencer then shot Smith, who later died at a hospital.