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Arizona law enforcement officers mourned trooper paramedic Hunter Bennett and pilot Robert Skankey after a law-enforcement helicopter crash during a police shootout with a domestic-violence suspect in Flagstaff, officials said. Authorities said the helicopter crash happened while officers were engaged with Terrell Storey, 50, and the cause of the crash remained under investigation Friday. Arizona Department of Public Safety officials said the investigation involved federal aviation safety agencies, including the National Transportation Safety Board.
Police said the confrontation began after officers responded to a domestic violence call. As officers spoke with the victim in the front yard, authorities said the suspect shot at officers from the back of the residence with a semiautomatic rifle. Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly described the neighborhood as “under siege” during the prolonged gunbattle.
Officials said Storey fired on officers from multiple rooftops over almost two hours, and that he moved around the neighborhood while shooting at officers and into homes. Connolly said three Flagstaff police officers and one Arizona Department of Public Safety employee fired their weapons during the confrontation. Police said Storey was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Storey remained hospitalized on Friday and faced charges that include two counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement. The agency said Storey was being held on $5 million cash-only bond and was to be booked into jail after he was released from the hospital. Officials said the case had not yet appeared in Arizona’s online court records system and it was not clear whether Storey had an attorney who could comment.
Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Jeffrey Glover said the helicopter crew’s role was to assist officers on the ground, giving them “eyes and ears up top.” Glover said the crew had been helping officers during the incident, and he said it was a “very important role when they are running their missions.” He said no one on the helicopter had opened fire and declined to discuss possible causes of the crash.
Glover said the helicopter was “under active investigation” by agencies including the NTSB, and he called speculation at this time “really irresponsible.” He said the Bell 407 helicopter was “functioning just fine” when it was most recently inspected on Jan. 29. Glover declined to say whether factors such as gunfire or a drone may have struck the aircraft.
Trooper Bennett and pilot Skankey were identified as the two people killed. Bennett, 28, was described as an honors graduate of Arizona State University and the top graduate of his 2023 Arizona Law Enforcement Academy class, before transferring to an air rescue unit in 2024 and marrying his high school sweetheart months later, according to officials. Skankey, 61, was described by city officials as a longtime resident of Kingman and as having been hired by the Arizona Department of Public Safety in May 2021 after previously serving in the U.S. Marine Corps; officials said he was married and had four children.
An aviation safety consultant, Jeff Guzzetti, said flight data suggested a possible mechanical problem or pilot disorientation, but that it was too soon to know for certain. Guzzetti said the flight-path information suggested the helicopter was making a pass back to the shootout scene and slowed to almost a hover about 1,000 feet (300 meters) over a hilltop. He said the last moments after the helicopter crossed over an unpopulated area did not appear consistent with being hit by a drone or gunfire, adding that if that were the case, the pilot likely would have been able to radio it in and attempt to land.
A spelling correction was issued after the initial reporting: the pilot’s last name was corrected from Skanky to Skankey based on new information from authorities.