Chandler police undercover officers were outgunned, outmanned and unprepared for what awaited them when they tried to do a "reverse drug sting" in Phoenix in July, a newly released Phoenix police report on the incident makes clear.

The three undercover officers were armed with service pistols while the suspects had a small arsenal that included a shotgun, an AK-47 and a variety of semiautomatic handguns. Officer Carlos Ledesma, the first to die in the gunfight, was blasted down by four shots from an assault rifle.

The report reveals that soon after the undercover detectives arrived at the south Phoenix house with 23 bales of marijuana, four armed men arrived, entered the house and "all hell blew up," as one drug-dealer suspect described it.

When the department's Special Assignment Unit showed up within 60 seconds of the gunbattle, they still thought everything was normal, the report says. It wasn't until they found drug-dealer suspects and undercover officers lying on the floor that the grim reality set in.

"We're all shot. Help," one injured detective said. In all, one police officer and two drug-dealer suspects were killed. Two police officers and another suspect were injured.

Phoenix police officers rushing to the scene had no idea that Chandler undercover agents were inside the home and many others were staged nearby. Only a dispatcher, first contacted by Chandler police at 4:10 p.m., about six hours after the start of the Phoenix drug deal, knew that Chandler officers were in the city. The shooting began shortly before 6:30 p.m. This is not unusual, Phoenix police spokesman Steve Martos said.

"What is common police courtesy is if we are working in another jurisdiction, we would call and notify them," Martos said. "That call could be to the 911 center, to a radio supervisor, and they did that. One of our radio supervisors knew."

It isn't common to notify patrol, he said. "When an undercover operation is going on, you don't necessarily notify patrol because you don't want patrol nosing around," he said. "Also, they (Chandler) didn't think they were in need of assistance. That did cause confusion early on, but even if we had known, it wouldn't have changed the outcome."

Chandler police contacted a regional police-notification system at 4:21 p.m. and held a meeting with some of the more than 35 Chandler officers involved, Chandler police said in a letter. "This was a fluid investigation, as most narcotics investigations are," the letter says.

The Special Assignment Unit took off for the 2300 block of West Maldonado Drive one minute after the undercover police arrived with a carload of pot. The goal was to arrest several drug-dealer suspects and seize $250,000.

The team was at Southern and 19th avenues, about a mile from the home where the shooting occurred.

But once the van started up and had covered only a short distance, the gunfight began. It took the team between 30 to 60 seconds to arrive. That was long enough for Ledesma to be killed and others to be wounded or killed. It was also long enough for at least five suspects to flee.

Chandler officers were moving as quickly as possible and had they known guns were being fired - they heard shouts and pleas to hurry over a recording device - it would not have made a difference, Chandler Detective Dave Ramer said Wednesday.

"When you are involved in an act of shooting, it is not like the movies. In reality, these are very quick," Ramer said.

The department, he added, is still in mourning over Ledesma.

There was never $250,000 was at the scene. A Chandler confidential informant, detective and middleman were shown the money in two "money flashes." But the suspects only supplied $999 in $1 bills wrapped with counterfeit $100 bills.

"It is called flashes for a purpose," Ramer said. "It is not like a bank transaction. You are dealing with a criminals, and that is how it is done."

An attorney for one of the men held in the case says a series of mistakes were made.

"These guys are in the house with eight or nine other guys that they didn't know," said Alan Tavassoli, who represents Doarnell Jackson, accused of firing the AK-47 that killed Ledesma. "They just plowed ahead. They were outnumbered, they were in a different jurisdiction, and they didn't contact Phoenix police until 4 p.m. I think when everything comes out, it will be a real embarrassment for the Chandler Police Department."

Six of eight suspects were apprehended within minutes: Jackson, Thandika Taweh Singleton, John Howard Webber, Jerry Wayne Cockhearn Jr., Eldridge Auzzele Gittens and Christopher Paul Gonzales.

Gonzales was shot five times. Corey Royalty was arrested in August. Anthony Wright was arrested in November in Chicago by marshals who worked with Phoenix officials.

The state is seeking the death penalty against Jackson and Gittens, and may seek it against Cockhearn.