On July 1, 1982, Officers John R. Davis, 48, and his partner Ignacio Nacho Conchos entered the Valley Squire Cocktail Lounge at 44 East Southern Avenue in Phoenix while investigating a bank robbery. Both officers were in plainclothes when a 25-year-old suspect suddenly fired seven shots at them. Officer Conchos was killed at the scene. Officer Davis, a U.S. Army veteran and twelve-year member of the Phoenix Police Department, returned fire and struck the suspect but was mortally wounded. He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center and died of his wounds on August 6, 1982.

The suspect was taken into custody and was later convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. An elementary school in Phoenix was later named in Officer John R. Davis’s honor.