Authorities are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect accused of shooting an officer Thursday in Phoenix, and citizens who know his location were asked to notify officials.
Law enforcement identified the suspect as Nicholas Cody Cowan, AZFamily.com reported Thursday, and Phoenix Police announced Friday the reward has increased to $10,000.
In a social media post Thursday evening, Phoenix Police described Cowan as having brown hair and weighing 215 pounds. The man was last seen wearing a black hat, black shirt, and black shorts.
He also has multiple tattoos and is considered armed and dangerous.
The officer was reportedly taken into surgery at Honor Health Deer Valley Medical Center where she had a bullet removed and was listed in stable condition.
The AZFamily.com article relayed what happened, according to Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams:
Phoenix police said they were responding to a domestic violence call after a woman ran to a gas station in the area of Cave Creek and Beardsley roads around 10:15 a.m. Williams says the woman was afraid of confrontation with Cowan, her boyfriend. The woman said Cowan had “committed several criminal acts” and tried to commit suicide, police said. She also said he threatened to “shoot it out” [with] police if they were called, investigators said.
As officers arrived at the scene, Cowan entered the parking lot and when the officer approached him, he allegedly fired from inside his vehicle, hitting the officer.
“Another officer fired back as Cowan continue to shoot, now at the backup officer, police said. He then drove off. The backup officer wasn’t hit,” the report added.
Aerial video footage showed multiple police vehicles at the scene, and one man told Fox10 Phoenix, “We wish these people would stop shooting these cops and everything, because we’re losing them.”
In a social media post early Friday, Williams shared the reward information regarding Cowan and said, “Let’s find this guy.”