Arizona law enforcement officials Friday mourned the death of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a paramedic who died in a helicopter crash during a shootout with a domestic violence suspect in Flagstaff, the cause of which remains under investigation.
Col. Jeffrey Glover, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said helicopter crews have been working together to help police on the ground.
“They have the ability to put their eyes and ears on it,” he said. “They play a very important role in carrying out their mission.”
Glover said the plane was last inspected on January 29 and that agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board are “actively investigating” the cause of the crash.
“It would be inappropriate and irresponsible to speculate at this stage,” he said.
Soldier Hunter R. Bennett, 28, and pilot Robert Skankey, 61, were killed.
The suspect, whose identity has not been released, fired at police officers from multiple rooftops in Flagstaff for nearly two hours Wednesday night. He was captured minutes before the helicopter crashed.
Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly said Thursday that the confrontation began when law enforcement officers responded to a domestic violence call.
As officers spoke with the victims in the front yard, the suspect shot them with a semi-automatic long rifle from behind the residence.
A protracted shootout ensued, with the unidentified suspect “jumping from rooftop to rooftop” nearby while firing at police. The police chief said the neighborhood was “under siege” and the suspects shot at police and stormed into homes.
The suspect was taken to the hospital with a non-fatal gunshot wound.
Connolly said three Flagstaff police officers and a Department of Public Safety employee fired their weapons during the altercation.
City officials said in a statement that Scankey was a long-time resident of Kingman, Arizona. He was hired by the Arizona Department of Public Safety in May 2021 and previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Glover said he is married and has four children.
Bennett is an honors graduate of Arizona State University and the top graduate of the Arizona Law Enforcement Academy’s Class of 2023. He transferred to the air rescue unit in 2024 and married his high school sweetheart a few months later, officials said.
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Based on new information provided by authorities, the spelling of the pilot’s last name has been corrected from Skanky to Skankey.
