TUCSON, Ariz. — A Tucson police recruit was shot and killed and a Pima County corrections officer was wounded inside their home before dawn Wednesday. Arizona has issued a statewide Blue Alert for one of three men wanted in the attack. No one is in custody.
Carlos Ramirez, 23, died at the scene. His fiancée, 23, a corrections officer with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, was hospitalized in stable condition. She is pregnant, and authorities said the unborn child is expected to be fine. She has two other children.
Ramirez was eight days from graduating the police academy.
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The attack
Sheriff’s deputies from the San Xavier District were called to the 7700 block of South Enchanted Spring Drive, in the Star Valley area about 17 miles southwest of Tucson, shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Armed men had forced their way into the house. Investigators said they wore all black and ski masks and left in a gray Acura MDX, model years 2007 through 2013, possibly missing its fuel door. That vehicle was recovered Thursday in a parking lot near South Palo Verde Road and East 33rd Street.
The Sheriff’s Department has not released a motive and has not said how the men got inside. Ramirez’s sister has said publicly that the shooting was not random; investigators have not confirmed that.
The manhunt
An arrest warrant charging first-degree murder was issued late Thursday for Alex James Barnett, 33, the Sheriff’s Department said. Two other men are being sought and have not been publicly identified.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety issued a statewide Blue Alert for Barnett on Thursday, Aug. 20. It remained active Friday. He is described as 6 feet 2, 315 pounds, bald, with brown eyes and several tattoos, last seen in a red shirt and a black biker vest and riding a maroon 2020 Harley-Davidson FLHXS with Arizona plate D4A656. The alert says he is armed and dangerous and tells the public not to approach him.
A Blue Alert is the officer-safety counterpart to an Amber Alert, pushed to phones, broadcasters and highway signs. Under A.R.S. 41-1726 it requires that “a law enforcement officer has been killed, suffered serious bodily injury or has been assaulted with a deadly weapon,” that the suspect has fled, and that the investigating agency find an imminent threat.
Ramirez had not yet been sworn. His fiancée is a serving corrections officer.
Investigators have released two pieces of surveillance video. One, recorded at a Shell station on West Valencia Road about 5:20 a.m. Wednesday, shows Barnett and a second man roughly 40 minutes before the shooting. The other, recorded near Palo Verde and 33rd about 10:50 a.m. the same day, shows a third man getting out of the SUV. One of the unidentified men has arm and leg tattoos, short dark hair and a short beard.
The suspect’s record
Court records show Barnett was convicted Dec. 5, 2024, of unlawful imprisonment and of fraudulent schemes.
The unlawful imprisonment charge stemmed from a June 5, 2024, incident in which he put his hand over his wife’s neck during an argument and cut off her breathing, according to those records. She lost consciousness, and her injuries were consistent with strangulation. The fraud conviction covered a series of bad checks written in 2020, including a $7,000 check for a diamond ring at a gem show.
He had been convicted on March 4, 2021, of first-degree burglary, theft of means of transportation, misconduct involving weapons and aggravated identity theft.
He was released from prison Nov. 18, 2025, nine months before the shooting.
The sentence imposed on the December 2024 convictions was not available in online records, and the Arizona Department of Corrections’ public inmate database was unavailable Friday. Convicted in December 2024 and released in November 2025 leaves 11 months on the calendar, which would require either a short sentence or one served concurrently with the term he was already serving. Which of those applies has not been reported.
The victims
Ramirez had completed 23 weeks of training in Basic Recruit Class 26-1 at the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center. Before the academy he worked as a corrections officer for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, the same job his fiancée holds. His class graduates Aug. 27.
The Sheriff’s Department has not released his fiancée’s name.
“This is a tragic event and a tremendous loss for our community, the city, our department,” Tucson Police Chief Monica Prieto said. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the killing “does reach all of us.”
Darrell Hussman, president of the Tucson Police Officers Association, said Ramirez’s classmates intend to graduate on schedule. “You spend so much time with them, you go through blood, sweat, and tears through the academy, and to lose someone this close to graduation is tragic,” he said.
How to help
Investigators are asking for help locating Barnett and identifying the other two men. Anyone with information should call 911, or 88-CRIME at 520-882-7463 to remain anonymous. The Blue Alert advises the public not to approach Barnett.
This is an active investigation. This story will be updated.
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