PHOENIX—Police have detained a man who they believe may have ties to a string of freeway shootings that have rattled Phoenix over the past two weeks.
It’s not clear whether the man detained Friday after he was arrested at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is the only person of interest. The shooting scenarios have varied, said a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. Some shootings involved bullets fired at random cars, others involved projectiles — possibly BBs or pellets — and one was apparently road rage, spokesman Bart Graves said.
Phoenix drivers have been unnerved since the shootings began Aug. 29, mostly along Interstate 10, a major route through the city. Many drivers have avoided freeways since then. Eight of the cars were hit with bullets and three with projectiles that could have been BBs or pellets. One girl’s ear was cut by glass as a bullet shattered her window.
In a press release, the Department of Public Safety identified the man detained on Friday a 19-year-old from a Phoenix suburb. The department would not provide more information linking him to the shootings other than to say he was being questioned and that he had been booked into jail on an unrelated possession of marijuana charge.
Graves had said earlier Friday that investigators were questioning the man “about a number of things” besides the freeway shootings, but he declined to disclose what that entailed.
Speaking to Fox 10 in Phoenix (KSAZ-TV) from the back of a squad car after being apprehended, the man said officers surrounded him and his mother, guns drawn, after he bought a pack of cigarettes and a drink. He said officers had been aggressive with him, aggravating his back injury.
Witnesses said law enforcement officers seemed to be waiting for the man to appear at the convenience store and moved in quickly, surrounding his white Chevrolet Tahoe with unmarked vehicles. Graves said the SUV was being examined for any evidence that might connect it to 11 confirmed shootings.
“What you saw occur today is a result of a lot of troopers on the road, a lot of detectives on the road, a lot of undercover and marked vehicles, just a lot of work by our detectives trying to solve this case,” Graves said.
