Adrian Hedden, and Garrett Mitchell

The Republic | azcentral.com

A man who was shot by a police officer Wednesday morning after robbing a pharmacy in Tempe died of his wounds as he hid in a nearby senior-care center, police say.

The robber for a time had barricaded at Westchester Senior Living, an assisted-living facility with about 160 residents, on Rural Road north of Guadalupe Road. After about an hour of trying to make contact with the robber, police said SWAT team members discovered the man had died.

Police were still working to identify the man Wednesday night.

Police were called to Walgreens at McClintock and Guadalupe roads at about 9 a.m. Wednesday on a report that the pharmacy was being robbed by a man with a possible firearm, said Lt. Mike Pooley, Tempe police spokesman. The man was demanding pharmaceuticals, according to Pooley.

The man was described to police as black, approximately 6 feet tall and wearing a black shirt with gray sweatpants. He was carrying a black bag and wore a ski mask. Witnesses said he claimed to have a weapon but did not display one.

Officers patrolling the area saw a man matching the robber's description near Rural Road and Westchester Drive, slightly more than a mile away, and attempted to talk to him, Pooley said. The man did not want to talk to the police and he fled, which prompted a foot chase by the responding officers, Pooley said.

After a scuffle, the officer fired a single shot from his gun, hitting the man, Pooley said.

Soon after, a worker at the senior facility spotted the robber barricading himself in a storage area, Pooley said. Tempe SWAT teams were called to make contact with the robber.

After about an hour of trying to contact the man, Tempe SWAT entered the senior facility and eventually found the man dead from his wound. Police found drugs on the man — promethazine with codeine, commonly used as cough syrup but also an ingredient in some recreational drugs — but were unable to locate a firearm.

The officer involved in the shooting is a lieutenant and a 19-year veteran of the Tempe Police Department. According to Pooley, the officer suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.

Some residents of the facility were evacuated, and residents, nurses and other staff went into nearby businesses to stay cool.

Vikki Tucker, a registered nurse at Westchester, said, "I've worked here 21 years and never seen anything like this. You see this stuff on the media but always hope it doesn't happen in your building."

Alison Parker said she arrived at the senior center about 9:30 a.m. with her 84-year-old mother, who is a resident, and saw Tempe police pursuing a shirtless man between the buildings of the senior center. She said the man did not appear to have a weapon.

Susan Davis, 71, who said she moved into the Westchester facility on Monday, was heading to the nearby Albertsons to buy some bananas. She said the man ran right past her on his way to the facility.

"All of a sudden, he came around the corner. He was running really fast," she said. "I knew he was trying to get away from something."

About a minute after he ran past, she saw police cars follow him onto the campus.