Suspect caught in Arizona shooting spree
MESA, Ariz., — Police captured a suspect on Wednesday in a shooting spree that killed one person and wounded five others in Mesa, Arizona, acting Police Chief John Meza told local television station Fox 10 News.
The shooter, is man in his 40s with a large tattoo on his neck, Mesa police spokesman Esteban Flores said. Police fanned out across the city in a manhunt for the gunman.
Authorities confirmed that multiple people had been wounded in a shooting but could not immediately say how many people had been shot or if anyone had died. But the Arizona Republic newspaper, citing an unnamed police source, said one person was killed and five wounded.
The shooter began his attack across the street from a trade school and then moved on to open fire at a restaurant and other locations in the city, which is less than 15 miles east of Phoenix, Flores told reporters.
Dozens of police officers stood at the site of one shooting — Tri-City Inn motel and an adjacent tattoo parlor.
There were five or six shooting locations, local television station 12News, an NBC affiliate, reported.
Mesa Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh confirmed in a phone interview that multiple people in the city had been shot.
The East Valley Institute of Technology, the trade school near where the shooting started, and nearby Mesa Community College were placed on lockdown as a precaution due to the shooting, the campuses said on their Twitter pages.
School buses later in the day could be seen leaving the East Valley Institute of Technology, as pedestrians walked around.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said in a statement that he had spoken to the mayor of Mesa and offered the support and resources of the state, including the Department of Public Safety, in handling the shooting.
“Right now, our hearts and prayers are with the people of Mesa, the individuals affected by this tragedy, and all law enforcement and first responders working to assist the victims,” Ducey said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
