Phoenix Detective John Hobbs' final act of bravery

Phoenix Detective John Hobbs' final act of bravery
AZ Central.com
By Megan Cassidy
March 5, 2014

Heroic. Absolutely heroic.

A colleague used those words to describe the last moments of Phoenix police Detective John Hobbs’ life.

“We’re talking about an officer who got shot and doesn’t give up the fight,” police spokesman Steve Martos said.

Already mortally wounded and with his partner down, Hobbs managed to return fire at the fugitive who’d shot him and is believed to have killed the fugitive.

It was the final act of bravery for a man who’d spent the last seven years of his 21-year career tracking down the worst of the worst violent offenders.

Hobbs, who died Monday of gunshot wounds he suffered after trying to apprehend a man on an attempted-murder warrant, was part of a unit described as one of the “special forces” of the Police Department: the Major Offenders Unit.

Another detective, a 43-year-old, nine-year veteran, was shot and underwent emergency surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. His family asked that his name not be released.

Martos said that to test into the offenders unit, an officer must have the ability to conduct surveillance and know how to track people down.

“The entire unit is motivated, and they are certainly knowledgeable and well-respected,” Martos said.

“They want to help … they want to catch the bad guys.”

And that sums up Hobbs, 43, who was married and had three young children.
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