Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Rolando Tirado was shot and killed after stopping a vehicle in a parking lot on South 35th Avenue in Phoenix.
Officer Tirado and another officer were working an off-duty security detail at a business in the city of Phoenix when they stopped a truck with dark tinted windows because the driver had been driving erratically in the parking lot around 1:15 a.m. As he was talking to the driver, the front-seat passenger exited the SUV, walked around the back of the vehicle and shot Officer Tirado from behind. Officer Tirado succumbed to his wounds and died at the scene.
The gunman then engaged in a gun fight with the second officer, during which the gunman was shot and killed. The second officer, also from the Buckeye Police Department, was transported to a local hospital in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his shoulder, neck, and lower body.
The driver of the SUV was critically wounded during the gun fight, and a third occupant fled the scene but was captured two days later by the Phoenix Police Department.
Officer Tirado was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and served with the Buckeye Police Department for seven years. He had served in law enforcement for an additional four years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-AZ-E3039FBE- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Rolando. Claim this record.
This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.
Tributes
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Police Officer Tirado gave the Buckeye Police Department 11 years.
Thank you for your service to the Buckeye community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Rolando Alberto Tirado served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Police Officer Rolando Alberto Tirado is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In AZ, 204 of 330 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 61.8% of this state's fallen. That is 7.6 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.
National Cause Distribution
How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Rolando Alberto Tirado's cause is highlighted.
How Rolando Alberto Tirado Compares
Offender Outcome
Shot and wounded
When Felonious Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. Rolando Alberto Tirado is highlighted in May.
Weapons Used Against Officers
Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. Rolando Alberto Tirado was killed by gun; unknown type.