TUCSON, Ariz. – A 21-year-old man already on probation for a previous shooting opened fire into a crowd outside a downtown pizza restaurant early Sunday morning, wounding nine people before a Tucson police officer quickly stopped him as he fled.
Surveillance video from the scene near Empire Pizza on East Congress Street and Sixth Avenue shows the chaotic moments around 2 a.m. on July 19. According to police and court documents, the incident began as a verbal altercation between two groups. David Leroy French then allegedly fired multiple rounds into the crowd.
Officers who were already patrolling the busy downtown area heard the gunfire and responded on foot within moments. They spotted French running from the scene. After he ignored commands to stop, a uniformed officer opened fire, striking the suspect and ending the threat. French was taken into custody and hospitalized in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
Most of the nine victims suffered gunshot wounds to their extremities and have since been released from the hospital, according to Tucson police. No fatalities were reported.
French faces 19 felony counts: nine counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, nine counts of aggravated assault causing serious physical injury, and one count of discharging a firearm at a structure. He is being held without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 3. Additional charges remain possible as the investigation continues. The officer-involved shooting is under review by the Pima County Attorney’s Office.
Court records show French was already on four years of supervised probation stemming from an October 2024 incident in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In that case, the then-19-year-old allegedly pointed an AR-15-style rifle and fired toward a car wash employee after an argument. Prosecutors later noted they had lost contact with the victim, which factored into the case, but French still accepted a plea deal and avoided prison time.
Local business owners have voiced frustration over downtown safety. Empire Pizza, where two of the victims were sitting on the patio when the shooting started, praised police for their rapid response but criticized what it called soft handling of violent crime and other quality-of-life issues in the area.
The video circulating online highlights how quickly the threat was neutralized, with the suspect taken down shortly after the first shots rang out. Tucson police have not released further details on the officer involved or the exact timeline beyond confirming the fast response enabled by officers already in the vicinity.
