By admin 
MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — Neighbors in a Mesa neighborhood are being praised for their bravery after stepping in to protect a mother and her children from an armed man before he was shot and killed by police Monday night.
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The incident began just after 7 p.m. near Mountain and Lindsay roads. Mesa police responded to a report of a domestic dispute and found Perry Forster, 59, arguing outside his home with his ex-wife and children while holding a shovel.
Neighbor Josh Schweikart made the initial call to 911 after hearing the woman screaming for help. Schweikart quickly ushered the mother and children into his garage for safety.
At that point, police say Forster traded the shovel for an axe.
As Forster approached the garage with the weapon, Schweikart grabbed a baseball bat to defend the family. Forster then walked down the street, dragging the axe and screaming, security footage from another neighbor’s camera showed.
As Forster walked, he smashed the windows of at least 10 parked cars. During the chaos, Schweikart managed to usher the woman and children out of his garage and into a friend’s house to hide them.
Debi Farr, whose car window was among those shattered, said the neighborhood quickly united to help.
“It kind of happened as a default — we just care about each other,” Farr said. “We keep an eye on each other.”
Forster eventually turned back toward the house. When Mesa police officers arrived, they gave Forster several commands to stop. When he refused, officers shot and killed him. One of the officers’ rounds missed Forster and struck a parked car.
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“Josh was on the tail being that wall,” a neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said of Schweikart’s actions. “His garage was open, and that provided a sanctuary for the family.”
Farr expressed relief that the neighbors acted quickly, noting that the outcome could have been far worse. “We’d all do that for each other,” she said.
The Gilbert Police Department is conducting the investigation into the shooting, which is standard procedure for officer-involved shootings in the East Valley.
Records show Forster worked as an educator in Minnesota for more than two decades. Authorities are investigating reports that he was also employed in education in the Phoenix area, although his current employment status at the time of the shooting has not been confirmed.
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