5 police officers, 1 woman injured in shooting in US Phoenix

LOS ANGELES - Five police officers and one civilian woman were injured in a shooting early Friday morning during a barricade situation in Phoenix, the capital of the southwestern US state of Arizona, authorities said.

Five police officers are in the hospital after being shot in line of duty. Four of them are recovering and the fifth "was seriously hurt but on the road to recovery," said Phoenix police Chief Jeri Williams in a morning news conference aired on local TV channels.

Police was called to the shooting at a home near 51st Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road. One officer was shot multiple times by the suspect as he approached to help, according to Williams.

"There was a baby in the home, who at some point was placed in a carrier and placed outside. As officers went to bring that baby to safety, the suspect continued to shoot, firing and striking four other officers," Williams said, adding that officers returned fire at that time and the suspect then barricaded himself in the home.

A woman was also critically injured during the shooting, according to Williams, calling the incident "senseless."

"It doesn't need to happen and it continues to happen over and over again," said the police chief.

The Phoenix Police Department tweeted out in the morning that the barricade situation has been resolved and there is no threat to the public, adding that "the area will be restricted while investigators are on scene."