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COTTONWOOD, Ariz. » An Idaho man and two juveniles are among six suspects arrested after a late-night brawl in north-central Arizona left one person dead and two others with gunshot wounds, including a police officer.
The name of the person killed wasn’t released Monday, but Arizona Department of Public Safety officials said 29-year-old Jeramiah Gaver of Boise was being held on suspicion of aggravated assault.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Gaver has a lawyer who could comment on the case.
Authorities said a Wal-Mart employee suffered a sprained arm and cuts and other police officers had minor injuries in the melee late Saturday in the store’s parking lot in Cottonwood some 100 miles north of Phoenix.
DPS spokesman Bart Graves said the suspects jailed or hospitalized weren’t cooperating.
The suspects had been staying outside the store for several days, living in a large Chevrolet Suburban SUV with Idaho plates and might be related, Graves said.
He said the incident began when an employee was shoved inside the store. Cottonwood police later found the suspects in the store’s parking lot, and that’s when the fighting began.
The scene "looked like a riot in the middle of the parking lot," Louie Solano told Phoenix TV station KPHO.
"Lots of screams," Solano said. "Just screeching noise, like unreal, unreal."
Graves said investigators believe three shots were fired and there was a struggle for an officer’s gun.
Sgt. Jeremy Daniels, a 31-year-old Cottonwood police officer, suffered a gunshot wound to one of his legs but authorities say the 10-year veteran is expected to fully recover.
One of the suspects was shot in the abdomen. He hasn’t been identified, and details of his condition weren’t disclosed.
The other suspects included a woman, a girl and a boy whose names and ages weren’t available, while the others are men, Graves said.
He said the adult suspects were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, attempted homicide and obstruction of justice. None of their names were immediately available Monday.
