In the late evening hours of August 15, 2017, a confrontation in a desert area of Tucson, Arizona, ended in the death of 35-year-old Thomas Allen Dickinson. A male of Caucasian descent, Dickinson was fatally shot by a security guard near the intersection of South Kolb Road and East Science Park Drive. The guard, who was on duty but not affiliated with the businesses in the immediate area, placed a 911 call shortly before 7 p.m.
to report the shooting.
According to the security guard's account to the Tucson Police Department, the incident began when a man, later identified as Dickinson, threw a rock at his marked security vehicle while he was stopped at a red light. The guard then turned to follow the man in an attempt to confront him about the incident. He told investigators that he lost sight of Dickinson, but eventually located him in a nearby desert area where an altercation ensued.
During the confrontation, the security guard claimed that Dickinson picked up a large rock. In response, the guard said he fired his handgun, striking Dickinson one time. When Tucson police officers arrived at the scene, the security guard directed them to the location in the desert where they found Dickinson with gunshot trauma. Paramedics from the Tucson Fire Department were called to the scene, but Dickinson was pronounced dead from his injuries.
Homicide detectives began an investigation into the specific details of the fatal encounter. At the time of the initial reports, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting. Thomas Dickinson was a Navy veteran and was survived by his parents, a sister, and a brother.
