Shootings in the Phoenix area, which have left seven people dead and several injured, began in March when a 16-year-old was shot and wounded while walking in the street.
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The Phoenix Police Department is searching for a “serial shooter” whom they believe has been striking periodically at night in a low-income neighborhood since March 17.
Phoenix Police Department has linked four more shooting cases in the area of Maryvale with a series of murders and attacks that started in March in west Phoenix, assumed to be actions from a serial killer.
Dossie Ellis Sr.’ daughter, Stefanie, and 12-year-old granddaughter, Maleah, were shot and killed right on his driveway in June.
Phoenix residents got to meet their new police chief Thursday.
A police sketch showed a male with dark hair, and Howard said witnesses reported seeing a vehicle leaving shooting scenes, possibly with more than one person inside.
A reward of up to $30,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest.
Dr. Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist, says, “Much like Dieteman and Hausner, it appears you have an individual or individuals moving around the community targeting people at random”. Local police have dubbed the killer “the serial street shooter”.
Two people were killed in April and two in June.
“Hypothetically, should the shooter be stopped by police, he would have some logical reason to be in that area”, Van Zandt said.
Witnesses heard the victim and the suspect argue, and then shots were fired, according to investigators.
Horacio de Jesus Peña, 32, was killed in a drive-by shooting while standing outside a residence the night of June 3. A seventh victim in east Phoenix and three other shootings were linked to the shooter at a Tuesday news conference. Ellis later succumbed to her injuries.
Diego Verdugo Sanchez, 21, was the shooter’s first victim, gunned down while having dinner with his pregnant fiance’s parents.
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So far, officers have not identified a motive, unsettling Maryvale residents who say gunfire at night is relatively routine but call the latest killings scarier because they’re not attributed to the neighborhood’s longstanding problems with drug violence and gang members settling scores.
