Surveillance video from July 19 showed a Tucson, Arizona, police officer intervening within seconds when a gunman opened fire.
Tucson police say that 21-year-old David Leroy French, a felon who previously received probation for firing a rifle at a car wash employee in 2024, opened fire at 2 a.m. MST on July 19 near the Empire Pizza and Pub after an argument, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Surveillance video obtained by the Tucson-area newspaper apparently shows French drawing a handgun and firing multiple rounds as he started to flee when a police officer shot him following a verbal confrontation.
“A shooter recklessly began shooting in a crowded area striking nine people before being stopped by a Tucson Police Officer,” Democratic Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement to KGUN, a Tucson-area TV station. Thanks to the quick actions and excellent care provided by our fire fighters and police officers, all victims were stabilized and taken to the hospital where we are hopeful they will all recover.”
Romano’s office referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a statement posted on July 19 in which she blamed “easy access to guns and Arizona’s weak gun safety laws” when reached for comment about the incident in which the armed cop stopped the shooter. The DCNF also asked Romano about the alleged shooter’s previous criminal history with a link to a statement from the restaurant criticizing the push for gun control.
French faces nine counts of aggravated assault for his alleged actions near the restaurant, which occurred while he was still serving a four-year probation sentence for the 2024 incident.
“It is believed that the suspect arrested in connection with a mass shooting downtown early Sunday morning had one prior felony conviction when he was 19 years old,” Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said in a July 20 statement. “Our records check indicates that the individual was charged by our office at that time with a class three felony for firing a weapon during an altercation. He then pled guilty to that aggravated assault.”
“At sentencing he faced a prison range of anywhere from two to nearly nine years in prison,” Conover continued. “The court’s probation department assessed the individual and found him to meet the criteria for a sentence of intensive probation, and the judge ordered standard probation. It appears he was still under that supervision in our community without any documented infractions in the court file when Sunday morning’s incident occurred.”
Former Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot and seriously wounded during a constituent event in 2011, posted on Instagram about the “gun violence crisis” in response to the shooting, while Democratic Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva attacked pro-Second Amendment groups in a statement about the shooting.
“Congress has failed for far too long to act while communities continue to bear the devastating cost of gun violence,” Grijalva posted on Facebook. “We cannot continue to let the gun lobby dictate our gun laws while cities like Tucson pay the price. Congress must do its job, pass common sense gun safety reform, and protect our communities.”
“We were disheartened to see the focus of this tragedy shift to gun control,” the restaurant posted. “Whether or not you believe in gun control has zero applicability to what has been happening downtown over the past few years.”
The restaurant accused local officials of failing to enforce laws, while also lambasting local media for not covering how local prosecutors failed to bring charges in multiple posts and comments on social media, including one on the mayor’s July 19 statement. The restaurant questioned local media coverage in a Wednesday post on X.
On July 19, the restaurant said it noted two police officers moving to aid victims while it was gathering its surveillance footage to assist in the investigation of the shooting.
(DCNF)
