Police say messages sent to the children’s father helped lead officers to the Phoenix home.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Text messages sent during a police response to a Glendale shooting became key evidence in the deaths of two children and their mother at a Phoenix home, authorities said.
Investigators say Andrea Clarice Davis, 38, used her phone after opening fire at her husband and another woman outside a bar. The messages went to her husband, Nolan Davis, and said she planned to harm their children. Police said one message included a photo showing one of the children bleeding from the head.
The digital evidence gave police a live warning while they were still at the first scene. Glendale officers had responded just after midnight May 25 to Tailgaters Sports Bar & Grill, where a 36-year-old woman had been shot in the back of the head. Nolan Davis told officers his wife had fired at him and the woman before leaving. He then showed police the messages coming from Andrea Davis, according to authorities. Glendale police spokesperson Jose Santiago said the messages told officers the danger had moved to the children.
Police said the father told officers the children were with Andrea Davis at a nearby home in Phoenix. Officers went to the residence and forced entry. Inside, they found Andrea Davis, 10-year-old Austin Davis and 18-month-old Andolan Davis dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Phoenix police said investigators believe Andrea Davis killed the children and then herself. A handgun was found during a search warrant at the home. The phone messages, the recovered weapon and the timing of the police calls now form the core of the official timeline.
Authorities have described the case as connected but split between two law enforcement agencies. Glendale police are investigating the shooting outside the bar, including the injury to the 36-year-old woman and the reported gunfire toward Nolan Davis. Phoenix police are investigating the deaths at the home. The case also involves medical examiner findings and forensic review of phones, firearms and any surveillance footage from the bar area or the neighborhood. Officials have not released the text messages in full.
The messages mattered because they showed what police say Andrea Davis was communicating in the moments between the first shooting and the deaths. Investigators have not said whether the children were killed before or after all of the messages were sent. They also have not said whether the image was taken inside the home or whether it showed Austin or Andolan. Police have released only the basic description of the photo, and officials have not made the image public.
Phoenix Sgt. Lorraine Fernandez said the scene at the home was especially hard because children were among the dead. “It is a very difficult incident to deal with today,” Fernandez said. “No one wants to see harm caused to children.” Fernandez said Phoenix police had no record of prior domestic violence reports at the residence. That absence does not settle what happened inside the family before the shootings, but it shaped what officers knew before the emergency unfolded in real time.
The adult conflict under review includes the relationship between Nolan Davis and the woman wounded at the bar. Police said they knew each other but had not publicly defined the connection. A friend of Andrea Davis, Amy Bowers, said Davis had been distressed over what she believed was an inappropriate relationship involving her husband. Bowers said Davis had been worried about a possible separation and what it would mean for the children. Police have not confirmed those statements as the motive for the shootings.
With Andrea Davis dead, the investigation will not lead to a criminal trial against the suspected shooter. That means police reports and examiner findings may become the main public record of what happened. Detectives still must determine how the gun was used, how many shots were fired, where each person was found and how the phone messages match the timeline. Investigators may also review call logs, location data and witness statements from people at the bar and near the Phoenix home.
The children were first identified by age and gender in police accounts, then by name in public reports and fundraising material. Austin Davis was 10. Andolan Davis was 18 months old. Their deaths drew attention not only because they were children, but because police said their father received direct warnings while officers were still responding to an earlier attack. The case raised questions about how fast officers were able to move from one scene to another and what information they had before entering the home.
The wounded woman survived the first shooting and was expected to recover, police said. Her account could help investigators understand what happened at Tailgaters before Andrea Davis left. Police have not said whether Nolan Davis was in a vehicle or standing outside when shots were fired, though reports described him as being with the woman in the parking lot. The bar is in Glendale, while the home where the children died was in Phoenix, a short drive away.
Investigators have not released the final timeline or the full contents of the messages. The next public record is expected to come from completed police reports, forensic findings and the medical examiner’s determinations.
Author note: Last updated June 21, 2026.