An exchange of gunfire left one police officer and suspect injured in Globe on Friday, August 27. 

The Globe Police Department said that just before 5 p.m. they responded to a call of a man, later identified as Perry Roy Tonto, 30, threatening to shoot an officer. The person who called 911 said they dropped Tonto off at McDonald’s intoxicated with a loaded weapon. 

Globe Police Officers and a Gila County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the area and did not locate the male in question. A second 911 call came in several minutes later from a nearby resident who reported that a suspicious male was trespassing in his backyard and was armed with a handgun. According to Globe Police, officers located the described male hiding behind a storage shed on an empty lot in the area. As officers exited their vehicles to make contact, the man began firing on officers. A brief exchange of gunfire took place between the officers and the male suspect. 

One officer, Sgt. Devin Meintzer of the Globe Police Department, sustained non-life threatening gunshot wounds and was hospitalized due to injuries, but is now at home. The suspect was struck by gunfire as well and was transported for medical treatment. He was later released from the hospital and booked into the Gila County Jail for attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, endangerment and prohibited possession of a weapon. 

The investigation into this matter has been turned over to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS).

Courtesy photo/Gila County Sheriff’s Office

Perry Tonto