By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• The Arizona Department of Public Safety identified the two crew members killed in a helicopter crash while assisting at an active shooter scene near Flagstaff as Pilot Robert Bruce Skankey and Trooper/Paramedic Hunter R. Bennett.
• The Bell 407 helicopter was providing tactical support to Flagstaff law enforcement when it crashed on the night of Feb. 4, 2026; the cause remains under investigation.
• Skankey, 61, was an aviation supervisor and U.S. Marine Corps veteran; Bennett, 28, was a trooper-paramedic with the department.
• The active shooter suspect was taken into custody with non-life-threatening injuries; no other deaths were reported.
FLAGSTAFF, AZ — The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced Friday that Pilot Robert Bruce Skankey and Trooper/Paramedic Hunter R. Bennett were killed in the Feb. 4 crash of a DPS helicopter while responding to an active shooter incident near Flagstaff.
AP
The Bell 407 aircraft was assisting the Flagstaff Police Department and other law enforcement agencies during a prolonged exchange of gunfire with a suspect when it crashed at about 10:17 p.m., DPS officials said. The cause of the crash is under active investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration.
Skankey, 61, was an aviation supervisor with DPS and a longtime resident of Kingman, Arizona, with prior service in the U.S. Marine Corps, authorities said. Bennett, 28, joined DPS as a cadet state trooper and served as a trooper-paramedic assigned to the Western Air Rescue unit.
The active shooter incident began earlier in the evening after officers responded to a domestic violence call, and the suspect engaged law enforcement from elevated positions, law enforcement officials said. The suspect sustained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and was taken into custody.
Governor Katie Hobbs ordered flags at state buildings lowered to half-staff Feb. 7–8 in honor of Skankey and Bennett. The crash remains under investigation, and DPS officials said they will release further verified details when available.