Since our earlier post about the shooting and hostage situation that occurred earlier today near the Chandler Fashion Center Mall, one suspect has been arrested, Chandler police confirm to New Times.
Cops say they're still ironing out the details, but any confusion that the suspect might have been fugitive Daniel Perez, who was accidentally released from custody in Pinal County last month, was the result of "poor communication" between the agencies involved and the media.
The suspect in custody, however, is not Perez. He's Adam Hernandez, who was arrested at a Baja Fresh restaurant across the street from the mall after a standoff with police.
If you missed what went down in Chandler this afternoon, click here.
Chandler Detective David Ramer tells New Times the U.S. Marshals Wanted Violent Offender Task Force was tracking Hernandez for some bank robberies he's believed to have committed. When he realized authorities were tailing him, he opted to shoot it out with police.
At the time, the Marshals Service said the suspect might be Perez. The Arizona Republic, however, wrote earlier that the suspect was definitely Perez, as confirmed by the U.S. Marshals Service.
At the same time, though, the Department of Public Safety told New Times that neither they -- nor the Marshals -- could confirm that the suspect was definitely Perez.
The Republic has since removed that line from its account of what went on and put a banner on the homepage of AZCentral.com that reads: "Standoff over; man in custody not wanted fugitive Daniel Perez."
ABC 15 is reporting that one of its reporters watched officers take a second suspect into custody at the Sears store in the mall. That suspect, they say, may be Daniel Perez. Ramer, however, tells New Times that if another suspect was arrested, he hadn't heard about it.
Perez -- a man suspected of shooting at cops -- remains on the run.
Check Valley Fever for updates as authorities sort out things out.
