The Associated Press
PHOENIX — An armed man hijacked a Krispy Kreme delivery truck and led police on a chase across the city and into a shopping center, where officers killed him after he took a 76-year-old man hostage.
The hostage was treated for injuries caused by police bullet fragments.
The pursuit started early Sunday in Peoria, on the west side of Phoenix, where an officer confronted the man for allegedly driving a stolen vehicle, said Peoria police spokesman Mike Tellef.
The man pointed a gun at the officer, tried unsuccessfully to take another vehicle from customers and employees at a convenience store, then forced two Krispy Kreme employees to give him their delivery truck, Tellef said.
Officers pursued the truck across northern Phoenix to Scottsdale, where police spikes flattened three of the truck’s tires.
The gunman forced his way into a closed Safeway store and took employee Patrick Corbett, 76, hostage, said Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark.
As he held a gun to Corbett’s head and attempted to leave the store, a police officer shot the man in the back of the head, Clark said.
Corbett was hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said.
Police did not immediately release the gunman’s identification.