FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AP/AZFamily) — Authorities have officially named the pilot and trooper killed in an Arizona law enforcement helicopter crash during a police shootout with a suspect in Flagstaff on Wednesday.
The trooper/paramedic, 28-year-old Hunter Bennett, started at DPS as a cadet state trooper in 2022, assigned to highway patrol in 2023 and transferred to Western Air in 2024.
The pilot and aviation supervisor, identified as 61-year-old Robert Skankey, a longtime resident of Kingman, served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 2010. He joined DPS in 2021 before he was promoted to a supervisor position in 2024.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter was called to help Flagstaff Police get the violent suspect in custody, identified as 50-year-old Terrell Storey, but it crashed during the response.
Authorities specified that there was no gunfire leaving Ranger 52, and they would not comment on the cause of the crash, which is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
They specified the chopper was not out of date and was last inspected Jan. 29—less than a week ahead of the crash.
On Friday, Gov. Katie Hobbs ordered flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise on Saturday, Feb. 7, until sunset on Sunday, Feb. 8, in honor of Skankey and Bennett.
“Arizona owes immense gratitude to DPS State Trooper-Paramedic Hunter R. Bennett and DPS Pilot Air Rescue Aviation Supervisor Robert B. Skankey, whom we tragically lost this week. When they were called upon to help protect the Flagstaff community, they arrived without hesitation,” the governor said in a news release. “This is a devastating loss for Arizona and for the aviation and law enforcement community. I’m sending my deepest condolences to these heroes’ families, loved ones, and colleagues.”
The confrontation began when law enforcement officers responded to a domestic violence call around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly said at a news conference Thursday. As the officers spoke with the victim in the front yard, the suspect opened fire on them from the back of the residence with a semiautomatic long rifle.
A protracted gunbattle ensued, with Storey reportedly “hopping from roof to roof” in the neighborhood while shooting at officers. The police chief described the neighborhood as “under siege” while the suspect shot at officers and into homes.
Connolly indicated three Flagstaff police officers and one DPS trooper fired their weapons during the altercation.
Storey was taken into custody soon after the crash and taken to a hospital with nonfatal gunshot wounds.
Once released from medical care, DPS officials say he will be booked into the Coconino County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement, 3 counts of first-degree burglary and one count of disorderly conduct-domestic violence.
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