MCSO: Man shot by deputy in Mesa was undocumented immigrant

Posted: 01/17/2011
Last Updated: 1 hour and 12 minutes ago
By: Erisa Nakano

MESA, AZ - Authorities say a man who was fatally shot by a deputy after pointing a weapon at the deputy in a threatening manner in Mesa was an undocumented immigrant.

The suspect died Monday morning from his injuries, said spokesman Jeff Sprong with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

Sprong said the deputies responded to a call of shots fired around 10:30 p.m. near Ellsworth and Broadway roads.

It was determined that 47-year-old Felipe Ramirez Castellanos was in an argument with his wife and was leaving the residence in a vehicle. Castellanos reportedly fired several rounds from his vehicle in an unknown direction.

When deputies arrived, they stopped a vehicle backing out of the driveway of the home driven by Castellanos, Sprong said.

As a deputy approached the driver’s side door, Castellanos rolled down the window and pulled out an AK47 assault rifle and pointed it at the deputy in a threatening manner, Sprong said.

The deputy then reportedly fired his handgun at Castellanos and struck him in the hip and head.

Castellanos was taken to the Maricopa County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries where he later died.

Castellanos had 30 rounds in the magazine attached to the assault rifle, Sprong said. Detectives also found an additional 30 rounds of AK47 ammunition and a handgun with Castellanos.

It’s unclear what Castellanos was planning to do with all the ammunition.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_so ... a-has-died