Tucson police ID suspected robber fatally shot by officer

Tucson police say the man they believe robbed several businesses Thursday was shot and killed by an officer after another convenience store robbery early this morning.

The man was identified as Willie Davis Jr., 23, who recently moved to Tucson from Arkansas, began a spree of stickups just after 2 a.m. Thursday morning in midtown. He robbed seven Tucson area stores in five hours and made two failed attempts before moving outside the city limits to rob three more stores in Pima County and Marana, police say.

Police dispatch received a 911 call at 4:42 a.m. this morning about an armed robbery at a 7 Eleven store, 3501 E. Grant Road, Sgt. Maria Hawke, spokeswoman for the Tucson Police Department, said. The robber was armed with a small handgun and left the 7 Eleven parking lot on foot. Two minutes later a Tucson police officer in the area spotted a dark colored Cadillac that matched the description of a vehicle involved in the Thursday robbery spree.

The officer followed the car along East Blacklidge Drive. The driver turned into a dead end alley between North Dodge and Winstel boulevards and crashed into a fence, Hawk said. Both the officer and the driver got out of their cars and shots were fired. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer was not injured.

Tucson police identified the officer involved in the shooting as Sgt. Anthony Kadous, a 20-year veteran of the department.

A neighbor living across the street from the alley, Sterling Frisina, said he was awakened by the sound of multiple gunshots. Frisina said he heard between 15 and 20 shots fired. Friday morning Hawke would not say how man gunshots were fired.

Investigators believe the Friday robbery was likely the first of the day before the man launched into another spree.

“Robberies tend to be a very serial crime. The people who commit robbery tend to do it the same way over and over until they get caught,” Hawke said.

Detectives from homicide, robbery and internal affairs were at the scene for much of the morning conducing their investigations.