Steph Deschamps / June 19, 2021
One person was killed and 12 others were wounded in a series of shootings by a man driving around Arizona, police said Thursday. The suspected shooter has been arrested.
The man opened fire, apparently at random, in at least eight separate locations on the outskirts of Phoenix. The shooting spanned an hour and a half. A total of four people were shot, one fatally, while the other nine victims suffered minor injuries, some related to shattered glass.
We don't know what the motivation was. We have no idea what this person was thinking when he went to commit these acts, said the Peoria police spokesman.
The suspect was apprehended after firefighters identified a vehicle that matched the description given by several witnesses to the shootings. The man behind the wheel did not resist arrest and police discovered a weapon in his vehicle.
This event follows other recent shootings in the western United States, such as in California, where a disgruntled employee executed nine of his colleagues last month, or in Colorado, where ten people were shot in a supermarket in March.
A total of 279 people have been killed in mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to statistics from the Gun Violence Archive. At the same time, the number of gun victims has increased nationwide: more than 20,200 people, including suicides.