On a May evening in 2020 a long-simmering dispute over property turned deadly on a dirt road in Buckeye, Arizona. Richard Mladick, 51, was shot and killed near the intersection of Miller and Lower River roads during a confrontation with his neighbor, Javan Berry, over land ownership.

Berry called the Buckeye Police Department to report a trespasser and told officers Mladick had blocked the roadway with his truck, shouted racial slurs, and threatened him and an uncle who was present. Berry said he believed Mladick was returning to his vehicle to retrieve a gun and that he fired at Mladick’s legs in self-defense and to wound, not kill. The shots were fatal; Mladick was pronounced dead at the scene from apparent gunshot wounds.

When officers arrived, Berry and his uncle initially refused to exit their truck; a SWAT team used an armored vehicle to approach and take them into custody. The shooting followed a history of heated confrontations over a parcel where Mladick was developing a recreational lake and Berry’s family had long resisted selling.

Does anyone have details about the land dispute or witnessed the May 2020 confrontation?