Arizona law enforcement officials mourned a veteran U.S. Marine pilot and a military paramedic Friday as they were investigated for the helicopter crash that killed them in a police shootout with a domestic violence suspect in Flagstaff.
Police allege that 50-year-old Terrell Storey, the suspect who opened fire on officers from several rooftops in Flagstaff over a period of nearly two hours, opened fire Friday night. He was caught at the same time as the helicopter crash and was hospitalized Friday with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Story faces charges including two counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement. He was held on a $5 million cash-only bond and will be held in jail after his release from the hospital, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The case has not yet appeared in the state’s online court records system, and it was unclear if Storey had an attorney available to comment on his behalf.
The helicopter crew was playing a common role, helping authorities on the ground, said Col. Jeffrey Glover, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
“They have the ability to raise their eyes and ears,” he said. “They have an important role to play when they carry out their missions.”
What caused the helicopter crash was “under active investigation” by agencies including the National Transportation Safety Board, Glover said.
No one in the helicopter fired shots, Glover said. The Bell 407 helicopter was “functioning well” when it was last inspected on Jan. 29, Glover said.
Glover declined to say more about possible causes, such as whether it could have been struck by gunfire or a drone.
“It would be really irresponsible for us to speculate at this time. We should allow the NTSB to conduct their investigation to find out exactly what happened,” Glover said.
Trooper Hunter Bennett, 28, and pilot Robert Skanky, 61, were killed.
The confrontation began when officers responded to a domestic violence call, Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly said Thursday.
As officers spoke with the victim in the front yard, the suspect fired at them from behind the home with a semi-automatic rifle.
A lengthy gun battle ensued, with the unknown suspect shooting at officers and “jumping from rooftop to rooftop” in the neighborhood. The police chief described the neighborhood as “under siege” while the suspect fired at officers and homes.
The suspect was taken to the hospital with a non-fatal gunshot wound.
Connolly indicated that three Flagstaff police officers and a Department of Public Safety employee fired their weapons during the confrontation.
Skanky was a longtime resident of Kingman, Arizona, city officials said in a statement. He was hired by the Arizona Department of Public Safety in May 2021 and previously served in the US Marine Corps. He was married and had four children, Glover said.
Bennett was an honors graduate of Arizona State University and the top graduate of his 2023 Arizona Law Enforcement Academy class. He transferred to an air rescue unit in 2024 and married his high school sweetheart months later, officials said.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate accidents for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration, said the flight data suggested a possible mechanical problem or pilot distraction but it was too early to know for sure.
The NTSB has investigated 26 fatal crashes involving Bell 407 helicopters over the past 20 years. There were three mechanical problems.
“I don’t know of any bad reputation for this helicopter,” Guzzetti said.
Before the crash, the helicopter was passing back to the shootout scene when it slowed to a hover about 1,000 feet (300 meters) over the top of the mountain, Guzzetti noted from public flight-path data.
The final moments of the flight, after crossing an unpopulated area, did not appear to be consistent with drone or gunfire, Guzzetti said. If so, he said, the pilot probably would have been able to radio that information and try to land somewhere else.
“Everything seemed normal in terms of altitude and airspeed until the last minute of the flight. It’s when things get curious for me,” Guzzetti said.
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The spelling of the pilot’s last name has been corrected from Skanky to Skankey based on new information received from authorities.
