DPS Now Questioning One Man of Interest in I-10 Shooting Spree

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is actively questioning one person of interest in association with the Interstate 10 shooting spree, the agency announced late today.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Friday, the DPS pulled over a vehicle in a convenience store parking lot near 107th Avenue and Indian School Road and detained two individuals it thought might have been involved.

It apparently decided that one of the people was not involved, but that the other needed to be detained and questioned further.
“The person we have [in custody] is male,” says Bart Graves of DPS, adding that no arrests have been made at this point and that a full investigation is still ongoing. 

Graves declined to answer other questions about the individual for fear of compromising the probe, and said he couldn't verify whether the DPS found weapons in the vehicle linking the subject to the shooting spree.

For the past 12 days, someone or some group of people has targeted moving vehicles on highways around greater Phoenix. Eleven shots were fired in total: nine on Interstate 10, one on Loop 202, and one on Interstate 17.

There have been reports of four or five other shooting incidents – like one on State Route 51 near a school — but Graves says, so far, the DPS has not determined whether the incidents are related to the active investigation.

When asked if any new shooting incidents had been reported today, Graves says, “We got one report from a woman this morning who said she saw the muzzle of a gun pointed at her [and] a flash, but her car wasn't hit, and there's no damage.” The incident, he says, occurred on I-17 near Thomas Road.

The shots have local residents worried – many people are suspiciously eyeing one another as they drive on I-10 – and some commuters or school buses have altered their normal commutes so as to avoid the freeways.

The 124 digital signs on highways around the Valley that normally report traffic delays or accidents have been flashing the DPS hotline telephone number since Tuesday. Graves says at least 200 people have called in with tips.