HONDAH — A man was killed around 10 a.m. Monday during an apparent failed armored car robbery attempt the Hon-Dah Resort Casino and Conference Center.
The incident was a second violent incident in more than a month at the White Mountain Apache Tribe-owned resort and casino.
The FBI's Phoenix office, along with Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, said a cash courier making a stop at the Hon-Dah Resort Casino was approached by a man who sprayed her with an unidentified chemical irritant. The courier then reportedly pulled her pistol and shot the man on the spot at the front door of the casino, where he fell and died a short time later.
Two witnesses told law enforcement officials that as they were entering into the casino via the entrance across from the gas station, they saw the motionless body of the man lying on the cement at the front doors. They also said the female cash courier who shot him was standing beside the body with a weapon in her hand.
When The Independent arrived on scene, White Mountain Apache Police Chief Tim Webster said he could not provide any details, referring all inquiries to the FBI.
No one else was injured in the shooting and no one else is suspected in the robbery attempt, Phoenix FBI representative Jill McCabe said.
"The cash carrier was treated on scene and is expected to be OK," she said.
The FBI has not yet released the name of the deceased man, but plans to do so pending notification of his family.
On the July 11, an armed robbery occurred around 3:30 p.m. during which a middle-aged man between 5 feet, 5 inches to 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with a slender build, black, white and red facial/head covering and wearing a gray-blue suit and white shoes got away with an undisclosed amount of money from one of the cages where money is exchanged for chips. During that robbery, the suspect, who is still being sought, was only in the casino for less than 90 seconds, officials with the Phoenix FBI Field Office said.
In 2014, a man was shot and killed by police after he fired upon and wounded two people outside the casino. During that incident three years ago, the alleged shooter engaged an argument with his wife in the parking lot of the resort and casino and retrieved a rifle from a rear compartment of his sedan. A security guard was shot twice and a patron was injured.
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