Thread: AZ: Illegal immigrant arrested in fatal shooting

Illegal immigrant arrested in fatal shooting

Associated Press - November 21, 2008 3:14 AM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - Police have arrested an illegal immigrant wanted in connection with a fatal shooting last weekend in Mesa.

Christian Garcia, 26, was taken into custody Wednesday in Tucson as he was preparing to leave for Mexico, authorities said.

Once transported to Mesa, police said Garcia admitted to shooting a .9mm-caliber and .40-caliber handgun at a pickup carrying Christian Gonzalez early Sunday.

Gonzalez was killed and two other people in the vehicle were injured, police said.

Garcia was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault.

Investigators believe the shooting is related to an altercation that occurred at a club in Mesa early Sunday.

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=9391018

How typical! Kill someone here and then runaway back to Mexico.

This kind of stuff has moved further and further into our area out here in Mesa and we used to be considered the burbs.

But hell, we all knew we were in trouble the day Phoenix Mayor Gordon was absoliutely beaming as he publicly announced that "Phoenix is going to become the New Los Angeles" and the then Mayor of Mesa chimed in, just as equally beaming, with "And Mesa is on the fast track to becoming the New Phoenix"

Looks like neither of them were kidding

November 21, 2008 - 2:47PM
Updated: November 22, 2008 - 1:00AM
Suspect in Mesa club shooting here illegally
Comments 31| Recommend 1
Devon Hersom, Tribune

A suspect arrested in the death of a man and the shooting of several people at a downtown Mesa nightclub admitted to police that he fired at the group and that he has lived in the country illegally for 13 years, arrest records show.

Suspect arrested in Mesa night club homicide


Christian C. Garcia, 26, was captured Wednesday in Tucson before he attempted to cross the border into Mexico, according to a Mesa police arrest record.

The suspect fired several rounds at a truck filled with five people following an altercation at Club Cabo on Nov. 15, according to Mesa police spokesman Detective Ed Wessing. After Garcia fled, police discovered Christian Gonzalez and Alvaro Mendez Paredes inside a Chevrolet Silverado pickup at the club near County Club Drive and Main Street.

Mendez Paredes, the driver of the truck, was taken to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn in critical condition. Gonzalez, the front passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene.

One of the bullets struck the hand of a female truck passenger during the incident, but a male and another female passenger were not injured.

Police found bullet casings from two handguns, a 9 mm and a .40 caliber, at the scene. Garcia told police that he owned both types of handguns and fired them at the Silverado from his vehicle .

Garcia was booked into Mesa City Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and aggravated assault following his arrest Wednesday.

In the police interview, Garcia told authorities that he had lived in Mesa with his father for 13 years while working as a landscaper. He said he was attempting to become a legal citizen.

Mesa police would not say Friday how they tracked Garcia or how police knew of his identity. The arrest record shows that Garcia and some of the truck’s occupants had met in the past.

Federal immigration officials would not disclose whether Garcia had prior detentions or deportations.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/130970