PHOENIX -- A man suspected of opening fire on a federal security officer outside the U.S. courthouse in Phoenix has a long history of mental illness but had never been violent, his ex-wife said Wednesday, a day after she helped him surrender to authorities.
"There's no explanation for it. He's sick," Donna Gonzales told The Associated Press. "Hopefully, he's getting the help he needs."
A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court said James Lee Carr, 68, opened fire Tuesday because he said he felt the federal officer "was harassing him." The officer was inspecting a UPS truck heading into the courthouse when someone in a car yelled, "Hey," and then fired three shots, according to the complaint.
One round struck the officer, who returned fire, shooting roughly eight rounds as the driver fled in a silver Cadillac. The officer was hit in a protective vest and was expected to recover, city police and the FBI said. Carr was not injured.
Gonzales said her ex-husband most likely will need a court-appointed attorney. She also dismissed any notion that he was making a statement linked to nationwide protests over police brutality and the weekend ambush of two Los Angeles County deputies. She blamed his mental illness.
Immediately after the shooting, Carr called his brother and said he was sitting in a park and "wanted to die because he shot the security guard," according to the criminal complaint.
The brother called Carr's son and Gonzales, who said they found him dressed in a suit and fedora and sitting at the end of a slide with a revolver and rifle on a stool nearby. They got the weapons away from him and called 911.
"He followed my instructions, and that was the end of it," said Gonzales, who didn't know he had guns. "I had no fear. I know the man. He would never hurt me."
Gonzales said she and Carr, who also have a daughter, last spoke two months ago. She didn't know if he was taking any medication and said he's acted erratically before but has never been violent.
Carr has been charged with using a weapon to assault a federal officer and another weapons charge.
After the courthouse shooting and the ambush of the two Los Angeles County deputies, Phoenix police will have officers patrol in pairs for greater safety.
The deputies in Compton, Calif., were sitting in their parked vehicle when a man walked up and fired. They were struck in the head and critically wounded but expected to recover. The gunman hasn't been captured, and a motive hasn't been determined.
Federal courthouses have been flash points for recent violence.
In June, a federal security officer was shot and killed and his partner was wounded outside the federal courthouse in Oakland as they guarded the building during protests over racial injustice and police brutality. An Air Force sergeant was charged with the shooting, and prosecutors say he had ties to the far-right, anti-government "boogaloo" movement and used the protest as cover for the crime and his escape.
During demonstrations in Portland, Ore., demonstrators and federal officers clashed at the federal courthouse, where people set fires and tossed fireworks and rocks, while federal authorities unleashed tear gas and made arrests.
In Dallas, a suburban police officer who shot and killed a woman last year while firing at a dog was charged Wednesday with criminally negligent homicide, prosecutors said.
A grand jury indicted Ravinder Singh in the August 2019 death of 30-year-old Margarita Brooks, the Tarrant County district attorney's office said. At the time of the shooting, Singh was a rookie officer in the Dallas suburb of Arlington. He was placed on administrative leave after the shooting and resigned three months later.
Singh was booked Wednesday into the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth. He was held without bail pending an appearance before a magistrate.
If convicted, Singh could be sentenced to as much as two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
Brooks' family was part of a group that met with President Donald Trump at the White House in June ahead of his signing of an executive order that he said would encourage better police practices.
And in Kenosha, Wis., on Wednesday, fire chief says damage from the unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake has now topped $11 million.
"To put into context, that's three years of fire loss for us in the span of about a week," Fire Chief Charles Leipzig told the Police and Fire Commission on Tuesday, the Kenosha News reported.
