In the winter of 1971, a long-serving member of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Warren LaRue, was nearing the end of his career. At 56 years old, he had dedicated nearly 25 years to law enforcement and was just 59 days shy of his retirement. On Monday, January 18th, Deputy LaRue and his partner, Deputy Sheriff Rex Stone, were tasked with seizing a mobile home at 5344 East Van Buren Street in Phoenix to satisfy an $833 judgment.
The seemingly routine civil process took a
tragic turn when the man whose mobile home they were there to seize produced a. 32 caliber handgun. Without warning, the man opened fire, shooting Deputy LaRue four times in the back. Deputy Stone immediately returned fire, striking the suspect five times. In the exchange of gunfire, the suspect also managed to shoot Deputy Stone three times.
The violence of the encounter left all three men fatally wounded at the scene. Both Deputy LaRue and Deputy Stone succumbed to their injuries, as did the suspect who had initiated the deadly confrontation. As the suspect was killed at the scene, no arrests were made in connection with the deaths of the two deputies. The incident was a stark reminder of the unpredictable dangers that law enforcement officers face, even in what appear to be non-confrontational assignments. Deputy LaRue was survived by his wife and son.
