The Pima Regional Critical Incident Team has released new information about a police shooting that occurred last week. In the incident, Tucson police shot dead an armed man who retreated to a restaurant after robbing a nearby pharmacy.
Around 3:30 p.m. on March 14, the department responded to a report of a man police identified as Nicolas Mauro Sosa, 37, who was involved in an armed robbery in the Grant Road and Tucson Boulevard neighborhood. Officers searched the man and eventually found him at a nearby restaurant.
The agency said officers repeatedly ordered Sosa to get down to the ground before she pointed a handgun at the officer. Customers and staff inside the restaurant were able to safely flee the area.
Jesse Klopowitz, a 14-year veteran in the Sergeant’s Division, fired his rifle at Sosa before hiding. Additional officers along with the department’s SWAT team responded to the area and attempted to communicate with Sosa, but received no response.
Officers eventually re-entered the restaurant, where they found Sosa with a gunshot wound and declared him dead at the scene.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the University of Arizona Police Department are responsible for the criminal investigation into the shooting, while the Tucson Police Department will conduct an administrative investigation under protocol.
