Aaron Juan Saucedo was arrested for a string of shooting dubbed as the Serial Shooter case announced by the Phoenix police Monday.
Saucedo is the suspect in at least 12 shootings across the Valley. Nine people died and two others were wounded. The victims include a 21-year-old man whose girlfriend was pregnant with their son and a 12-year-girl who was shot to death along with her mother and a friend of the woman.
Saucedo faces 27 felony charges including murder, aggravated assault, and drive-by shooting. Saucedo was also charged last month with the first-degree murder in a killing not originally linked to the serial shootings.
Saucedo was also declared as the person of interest in the case last month.
A reward of $75,000 was offered for any information connected in the case. Because of the high reward, more than 3,300 tips were sent to the law enforcers.
The first shooting linked to Saucedo happened near Seventh Street and Camelback Road on Aug. 12, 2015. Fortunately, no one was injured.
The second shooting happened on August 16, 2015, near Bethany Home Road and Seventh Street in Phoenix, Saucedo was arrested.
The third shooting was on New Year’s Day of 2016, where a man was killed near 59th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard in Phoenix at 12:45 a.m.
Another was dated March 17, 2016, where Saucedo allegedly opened fire at a Nissan being driven by two teenagers. The the16-year-old boy was hit in the arm, abdomen, and hip. The teen survived the attack.
Another attack was dated July 11, 2016, where a man sitting in a car stepped out and shot a vehicle where a 21-year-old man and his 4-year-old nephew were sitting in.
Police said most of the killings took place in the city’s Maryvale section where it is a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood on Phoenix’s west side.
No motive has been established and investigators don’t believe the attached has anything to do with race.
Shortly after Saucedo was detained, the Arizona Department of Public Safety turned over all of its evidence from the Interstate 10 shooter case to the Phoenix Police Department. It also includes the DPS’ case against one-time suspect Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. The materials including the ballistics evidence were also turned over.
Police Chief Jeri Williams, however, said that the I-10 and Serial Street Shooter cases are not linked.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said at a press conference that it took “tens of thousands of hours to get this right” during the announcement of Saucedo’s arrest.
Source:
https://ktar.com/story/1565360/phoenix-police-announce-arrest-made-serial-street-shooter-case/
