PHOENIX (CN) — A person has been taken into custody for the drive-by shooting of a federal court security officer Tuesday outside a U.S. courthouse in downtown Phoenix.
The officer was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening after the shooting occurred around 11:30 a.m. outside the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse. The courthouse remained open despite the shooting.
The FBI’s Phoenix office confirmed a person has been detained and said there was no threat to the public.
After the shooting, the Phoenix Police Department released a photo of a silver car suspected to be involved in the drive-by shooting.
Sal DiCiccio, a Phoenix councilman, tweeted that multiple shots were fired at the officer, who was hit in his protective vest. DiCiccio also tweeted that the officer was able to return fire.
Court security officers usually work for private security companies awarded a contract by the U.S. Marshals Service.
This is not the first drive-by shooting outside a federal building this year. In May, two security officers were shot at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, California. One of the officers, David Underwood, died from his injuries.
Two men have been arrested in that attack.
The shooting comes at a time of intense scrutiny on police nationwide following the high-profile deaths of several Black Americans at the hands of police officers. It also follows an attack against two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who were shot by a man while sitting in their parked police vehicle. The suspect in that shooting remains at large.
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