Sheriff Chris Nanos: "We dropped the ball" on notifying South Tucson neighbors over military training exercise

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is apologizing for his department's failure to notify the South Tucson community of a military training exercise conducted within the 1.2-square-mile city limits Tuesday night.

Nanos says Tuesday night's training, conducted in an abandoned building by Pima Regional SWAT, was in collaboration with the Department of Defense.

Several viewers called and emailed KGUN 9 last night, concerned about the activity, some of which appeared to be "smoke bombs" near their homes.

In an interview with KGUN 9's South Tucson reporter Reyna Preciado, Nanos apologized to the community, saying there was a miscommunication in the chain of command, and that it will never happen again.

"We dropped the ball on this," Nanos said. "I don't know what to say other than I'm embarrassed."

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Nanos says there have been similar trainings conducted in South Tucson in the past, but not alongside the DOD.

For now, Nanos says his department is looking into how this miscommunication occurred, though there may not be a formal investigation

COMING UP ON KGUN 9: Team coverage from Reyna Preciado and Jacqueline Aguilar