Mesa, Arizona Explosion Damages Patrol Vehicle, Officer Hospitalized and Three People Detained

MESA, Arizona. An explosion damaged a Mesa police patrol vehicle early Thursday in east Mesa and sent the officer inside it to a hospital as a precaution, police said. The officer's injuries were not life threatening, and the patrol vehicle suffered significant damage. Three people were detained in connection with the explosion.

A shots fired call, then an explosion

Officers responded just before 6 a.m. on Thursday, November 12, to reports of gunfire near 96th Street and Hampton Avenue, Detective Laura Cervantes said, according to The Arizona Republic. While officers searched and canvassed the surrounding streets, an officer near 96th Street and Sunland Avenue heard an explosion from inside his patrol vehicle, Cervantes said.

FOX 10 Phoenix reported the same sequence. Officers were responding to reports of shots fired near 96th Street and Hampton Avenue when an officer reported that an explosion near 96th Street and Sunland Avenue had damaged his patrol car, and the officer was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

A resident hears the blast

Manuel Veleta, who lives nearby, told The Arizona Republic he was asleep when he suddenly heard the explosion at around 6:30 a.m. He said he came outside and saw a rush of police movement, including a man with his hands up.

Police set a perimeter around both scenes and asked people to avoid the area while officers kept investigating, FOX 10 reported. The two scenes sit in a residential part of east Mesa, south of Southern Avenue and between Ellsworth Road and Crismon Road.

Two incidents, police say

Cervantes confirmed to the Republic that the shooting report was a separate incident from the explosion. Police have not said what caused the explosion. They have not released the name of the officer, the names of the three people detained, or any charges in the case. They have also not said what the shots fired investigation found.

No additional information was immediately available on Thursday morning, and both investigations were still active. This story will be updated as Mesa police release more detail.

The investigation on Thursday morning

Police said officers had established a perimeter and were actively investigating both scenes. "We ask the community to avoid the area while officers continue their investigation," police said, according to FOX 10. The Sunland Avenue scene sits about half a mile north of the Hampton Avenue call, in the same east Mesa neighborhood. As of the first police statements on Thursday morning, no suspect description, no account of what exploded, and no time for the perimeters to lift had been released.