A 21-year-old man is in custody, charged with shooting an off-duty Arizona fire department captain in an apparent road rage incident.
Scottsdale, Arizona, police announced on Sunday evening, Feb. 4, that they had arrested Hezron Parks for allegedly shooting off-duty Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department Capt. Kyle Brayer.
Police questioned Parks for almost six hours before placing him under arrest, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
A man in a red Toyota Scion started tailgating the golf cart and then began ramming it. The golf cart pulled over. Brayer exited and walked back toward the red car. When he reached the driver’s side window, the driver shot him in the head.
The driver of the Scion then sped away from the scene, colliding with several other cars as he made his get-away eastbound down Stetson Drive.
Parks turned himself into the Phoenix Police Department, where after questioning he was booked for second-degree murder—intentional, before being transported back to Scottsdale.
A Brave Man Living Life Fully
Kyle Brayer had not wasted any of his 34 years of life. He served in the U.S. Marines, traveled the world seeking adventure, a first responder, and captain of Ladder 276 and the technical rescue team at Tempe Fire Station 6 on South Ash Street.Scottsdale Mayor Mark Mitchell released a statement about Brayer’s untimely death.
“He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, I mean come on,” said Adriano Goffi, a childhood friend.
“Anybody that looks back on his life knows that he lived it to the fullest every single day. And more than anything though, he was a nice guy to everybody,” said another lifelong friend, Justin Sharp.
“You know talk about someone that crammed 100 years of living into 34 years and that pretty much sums it up. He helped run the cadet program for Tempe Fire Department, he taught the Fire Fighter Fitness for MCC, he owned a personal training business,” Sharp added.
“You look at the accomplishments he’s made and he left a mark on the fire department. He left a mark on the Marine Corps, with his friends and family. He mentored a lot of us. Everyone looked up to him because of how he lived his life,” Sharp continued.
“The legacy that he left behind, he lived his life to the fullest and family was everything to him, whether it was the Marine Corps family, the fire department family and most importantly, his immediate family and friends,” he said.
‘Successful at Everything He Did’
After high school, Kyle Brayer attended Arizona State University, where he played hockey—and as with most things he did in life, he did it exceptionally well.Brayer spent nine months in Iraq, where he specialized in building bombs and rockets. Next he was stationed in the Philippines, where he administered humanitarian aid.
Brayer was very interested in physical fitness and training—so much so that he was put in charge of the Marine Corps Fitness Program.
Between deployments Brayer opened a fitness studio, and when he returned to civilian life, he joined the fire department, continued to build his fitness business, and enrolled in Mesa Community College, where he studied wellness foundations and public administration.
He went on to teach fitness classes at Mesa Community College—while running his business and working 56 hours a week as a firefighter.
One of the achievements of which Kyle Brayer was proudest was helping launch the Veterans Telemedicine Program in 2016. This program provides in-home medical care to high-risk veterans in the Tempe area.