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(CNN)Authorities in Phoenix are feverishly following the bloody trail of the mystery killer of …
Phoenix police hunt 'serial shooter' after 7 deaths
(CNN)Authorities
in Phoenix are feverishly following the bloody trail of the mystery
killer of seven people, trying to catch a man they have named "the
serial street shooter."
Police
said they have connected seven killings and the wounding of two people
to an elusive suspect -- or possibly suspects -- who blasts away at his
victims at night with a semi-automatic handgun.
"All
of the witnesses have described that the suspect was outside of his
car," said Sgt. Jonathan Howard of the Phoenix Police Department. "We
have not found any link between any of the victims to each other or the
shooter."
The
shootings began March 17, when a 16-year-old boy was shot and wounded
while walking on the street at 11:30 p.m., police said.
A 21-year-old man was shot and wounded the next night.
Two
people were killed in April and two in June. The last shooting happened
June 12, when three people were shot and killed in front of a home
around 3 a.m.
Authorities have
released a sketch of the suspect and said witnesses describe him as a
light-skinned Latino or white man in his 20s.
The
shootings are concentrated in the low-income neighborhood of Maryvale,
with many of the victims shot while standing outside their homes, police
said.
The sister of one of the
victims, saying she was too scared to give her name or that of her slain
relative, characterized the community's fear in an interview with
affiliate KNXV.
"It's unbelievable that there is this monster that has done so much harm, that nobody is coming forward," the woman said.
"All
of these people were so good. Good people with good families. And now
they are gone in the blink of an eye because of a monster."
Whatever
the killer is called -- the monster of Maryvale, the serial street
shooter -- police said they won't catch a break until someone speaks up.
"We want the public to know that it will take a tip from them to stop this violence," Howard said.
Police
said they've received descriptions of the suspect's vehicle ranging
from dark sedan to light sedan. They said they are not ruling out the
possibility that the shooter changed cars.
No shootings for a month
CNN
law enforcement analyst Art Roderick, a former U.S. marshal, said he
believes the killer knows the Latino enclave of Maryvale very well.
"So
he drives into these neighborhoods, sees someone standing outside,"
Roderick said. "The victim's age range -- it's from teenagers to the
elderly, male, female. So he's just picking targets of opportunity,
random individuals outside their homes at night."
There have been no related shootings since June 12.
"It
tells me he could well be watching the news, observing what's going
on," said Roderick. "Checking the Phoenix PD website. That's one
possible conclusion. The other conclusion could be he's moved on to a
different area."
Authorities said there is no link between the Maryvale shooting spree and a series of freeway shootings that rocked Phoenix last year.
"No way they are connected with the freeway shootings," said Bart Graves of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. "And the timeline is not right."
Law
enforcement agencies and the Maricopa County District Attorney's Office
are jointly offering a $30,000 reward to anyone who provides
information that solves the serial killer mystery, and they are
reminding the public tipsters can remain anonymous.
"We're
not just asking for the public to report any suspicious vehicle or
persons," Howard said. "But we want them to report any unfamiliar
vehicle or person that comes into their neighborhood."
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