Thread: Phoenix freeway shooter identified: Oscar de la Torre Munoz, domestic terrorist

DPS: Multiple Phoenix freeway shooters likely; 'person of interest' identified

Megan Cassidy and Jim Walsh, The Republic | azcentral.com9:46 p.m. MST September 11, 2015


(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)


Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead said Friday that he believes there is more than one shooter in the recent string of Phoenix-area freeway shootings because of distinct factors involved.

“It does not appear to be the same guy,’’ Milstead told The Arizona Republic. “I think we have three MOs. We have one that looks like road rage, we have the bullet ones, we have the projectile ones.’’

DPS has confirmed 11 shootings dating to Aug. 29. Eight vehicles were struck by bullets and three were struck by unspecified projectiles.

A man being questioned in relation to the recent shootings was arrested Friday and booked into jail on unrelated charges, according to a DPS spokesman.

Authorities identified the "person of interest" as Oscar de la Torre Munoz, 19, of Avondale, and said he was being held at Fourth Avenue Jail on suspicion of marijuana possession.


FREEWAY SHOOTINGS

DPS suspects multiple shooters
Random shootings frightening, hard to solve
Number of shootings rises
Vigilantes step in to help
What you need to know
Photos: Freeway shootings
Fear is keeping some motorists off I-10


Troopers detained Munoz and another person near 107th Avenue and Indian School after 10:30 a.m. Friday. At a press briefing an hour later, DPS spokesman Bart Graves said only one person of interest was being held in the investigation.

On Friday afternoon, Graves said investigators were still talking to Munoz and searching his vehicle.

"We're just talking to him about a number of things, quite possibly this investigation," he said.

Graves stopped short of saying whether tips or other evidence led investigators to the person of interest, but he said community calls had proved instrumental in the investigation. A $20,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest in the shootings.

"We couldn’t be as far along as we are without the help of the public," he said, declining to say whether those responsible were off the streets. He urged the public to keep calling with tips.

Graves shed little light on what he called an ongoing investigation, but said Friday's apprehension was the product of several troopers and undercover officers combing the roadways.

Authorities identified the "person of interest" as Oscar de la Torre Munoz, 19, of Avondale, and said he was being held at Fourth Avenue Jail on suspicion of marijuana possession. Investigators searched a Chevy Tahoe parked outside his house. (Photo: Megan Cassidy/The Republic)


"We are working 24 hours a day," he said.

Parked outside the Munoz home in Avondale on Friday night was the white Chevrolet Tahoe that DPS investigators had searched earlier in the day.

Family members declined comment. Shortly after, one of them drove the Tahoe into the garage and shut the door.

Court records show Munoz had multiple traffic infractions, the latest of which included an arrest in May on suspicion of driving at criminal speeds and fleeing from law enforcement.

The majority of the shootings happened on a stretch of I-10 between 83rd Avenue and 32nd Street. One shooting was reported on I-17 near Dunlap Road and another on Loop 202 between 32nd Street and 24th Street. A DPS spokesman did not immediately confirm the location of the 11th shooting.

Of the 11 vehicles targeted, three were passenger cars, three were pickup trucks, two were box trucks, one was an SUV, one was a tour bus and one was a semi truck. The bullets and projectiles have hit various parts of the vehicles, including windshields, passenger windows and a ladder.

A 13-year-old girl traveling in an SUV on Aug. 29 sustained a cut to her right ear from broken glass. No other injuries have been reported.

DPS investigators have remained tight-lipped about particulars of the investigation, declining to release information about leads, a weapon or evidence found at the scenes. They have also declined to identify the locations where bullets and/or projectiles originated. Investigators have said they have received hundreds of tips from the public, including possible hits to other vehicles, but have confirmed only 11 shootings.

Milstead this week did say the incidents were acts of "domestic terrorism."

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ings/72074246/

DPS identifies person of interest in freeway shootings

www.abc15.com640 × 480Search by image

Oscar De La Torre Munoz

No surprise, right? And the Chevy Tahoe---kind of nails it, doesn't it?

I hope they get the right people and get them all. Very difficult case to investigate but it looks like leads and combing the area will pay off. Lucky no one has been killed yet.

Originally Posted by Captainron

No surprise, right? And the Chevy Tahoe---kind of nails it, doesn't it?

Hey, I own a Chevy Tahoe! I guess a Tahoe is good for things other than what I use it for ..... pulling a boat.

Person of interest/suspect/arrestee. Seems a distance yet to any arrest. somewhat likely, yes, but assured, no.

Vigilantes attempt to solve Phoenix freeway shootings

Justin Sayers, The Republic | azcentral.com6:26 p.m. MST September 11, 2015


(Photo: Tony Rowley)


As the number of shootings on Valley freeways continues to rise, a group of armed civilians is trying to help find whoever is behind them.

Bolt Force, which bills itself as a group of volunteer crime fighters, has been tracing the Interstate 10 corridor this week to help supplement law-enforcement efforts, said the group's leader, Tony Rowley, who goes by "Bolt."

"If they're trying to kill somebody, they're a horrible shot," said Bolt of Phoenix. "If they're trying to scare people, they're doing a good job."

On Wednesday night, six volunteers patrolled the streets between 35th and 45th avenues, searching in neighborhoods flanking I-10.

"Our goal is to help," Bolt said. "I felt it was important that Bolt Force gets extra eyes and ears on the ground."

FREEWAY SHOOTINGS

DPS suspects multiple shooters
Random shootings frightening, hard to solve
Number of shootings rises
Vigilantes step in to help
What you need to know
Photos: Freeway shootings
Fear is keeping some motorists off I-10


Members dress in all black, wear protective vests and carry semiautomatic weapons. The group is made up of former police, military and security personnel, said Bolt, who adds that he is a former Marine, reserve police officer, firefighter and bounty hunter.

The group mostly just patrols neighborhoods for suspicious activity in an effort to deter crime but sometimes follows its own leads. When group members see something out of the ordinary, they call police and keep their eye on the situation until law enforcement arrives.

"That's always the goal to let police handle the situation," Bolt said. "We prefer law enforcement handles (arrests)."

​A spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which is investigating the freeway shootings, said the department welcomes Bolt Force's eyes and ears but would prefer that the group let DPS handle the investigation.

"Anytime we come upon someone, we clearly identify ourselves as Bolt Force or citizen patrol," Bolt said. "It's very important we distinguish ourselves as not law enforcement."

During their time on the streets, they also do more than fighting crime, Bolt said. They help anyone in distress, which has included pushing cars that have run out of gas and providing rides home for citizens.

The group, which is approaching its fifth anniversary next month, has received both positive and negative feedback. But Bolt, who runs three companies as his day job, said he doesn't have time to pay attention to that.

"I'm up all night fighting crime," he said. "I got way too much on my plate."

DPS asks anyone with information about the freeway shootings to call 602-644-5805 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or 480-948-6377. Tips can also be e-mailed in at silentwitness.org.

Silent Witness has increased its reward to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest or indictment in the cases.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ings/72021740/

Police: Man detained in freeway shootings isn't top suspect

Associated Press
11:25 AM, Sep 12, 2015
28 mins ago

PHOENIX - A man questioned in a string of Phoenix freeway shootings is not the prime suspect and investigators are pressing ahead with leads in a case that has left the city on edge for two weeks, authorities said Saturday.

Oscar de la Torrez Munoz, 19, of Phoenix, was detained Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 as a person of interest, but Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves declined to say what led police to question him. Munoz has been booked into jail on an unrelated marijuana possession charge.

SPECIAL SECTION: Latest information on freeway shootings

Phoenix drivers have been unnerved since the 11 confirmed shootings began Aug. 29, mostly along I-10, a major route through the city. Many have avoided freeways since then. Eight of the cars were hit with bullets and three with projectiles that could have been BBs or pellets. One girl's ear was cut by glass as a bullet shattered her window.

RELATED: Projectile vs. shooting: What's the difference?

Graves said the investigation was moving forward and authorities were not concerned about the public growing complacent now that someone has been questioned. Police were still seeking tips, with freeway message boards across the city continuing to flash a tip line number.

The shooting scenarios have varied. Some involved bullets fired at random cars, others involved projectiles -- possibly BBs or pellets -- and one was apparently road rage, Graves said.

MAP: Where the freeway shootings have been reported

Graves had said Friday that investigators were questioning the man "about a number of things" besides the freeway shootings, but he declined to disclose what that entailed. People who answered phones registered to the man's address said they weren't related to him.

Witnesses said law enforcement officers seemed to be waiting for the man to appear and moved in quickly, surrounding his white Chevrolet Tahoe with unmarked vehicles. The SUV was being examined for any evidence that might connect it the shootings, Graves said.

Marco Mansilla watched it unfold while getting coffee at a nearby McDonald's restaurant. The lot was suddenly teeming with law enforcement, and when he tried to leave, an officer told him to "go back in the store. It's not safe."

Mansilla said he asked an officer: "What happened? Is that the sniper guy?" He said the officer declined to answer.

On his way back to his window-tinting business across the street, Mansilla said he saw the man sitting inside a police car while four officers watched over the woman, who was in handcuffs.

"She was in shock," Mansilla said.

Store clerk Sara Kaur said she sold the man cigarettes, around 9:15 a.m., moments before between 15 to 20 cars swarmed in and officers handcuffed him. She described him as a regular customer, and she said she's "never had a problem with him."

Authorities have appealed for help through social media, news conferences, TV interviews and freeway message boards. Many of the thousands of tips proved to be false leads.

Longtime residents still remember a string of random shootings that terrorized Phoenix a decade ago. Nearly 30 people were shot then, and eight killed, including a cyclist who was riding down the street and a man who was sleeping at a bus stop. Two men were eventually caught and convicted.

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-pho...nt-top-suspect

Sources: Man taken into custody in Phoenix allegedly boasted to friends of rash of freeway shootings

By William La Jeunesse
Published September 11, 2015 FoxNews.com




The man taken into custody in Phoenix Friday allegedly boasted to friends of his involvement in a rash of freeway shootings over the last 12 days, a police source said, adding the unidentified man is also wanted in connection with other crimes.

Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, would not confirm the information, saying only the individual is a “person of interest” who will be “questioned all day.”

Graves said the highway patrol did not arrest the man, but are simply “detaining” him.

Sources also say police are attempting to place the man and his white Chevrolet Tahoe at the scene of previous shooting incidents using cell phone data from nearby towers, license plate readers and video taken from the 19 Department of Transportation cameras lining a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 through Central and West Phoenix.

The man and his mother were detained Friday morning in Phoenix outside a convenience store about four miles north of Interstate 10, where a majority of the 11 confirmed shootings took place.

Multiple undercover units and marked patrol cars boxed in the man’s SUV and wrestled him to the ground as he exited the store. Minutes later he spoke to Fox affiliate KSAZ through the back window of a patrol car.

More on this...

• Person of interest in Phoenix highway shootings speaks out
  
  

“I had just gotten cigarettes…when I got in the truck they rammed me, threw me on the ground and my mom, they haven’t told us nothing,” the man said. “They haven’t told us nothing. I kept asking, they said, ‘I can’t tell you anything.’ I have a messed-up back, I had three back surgeries.

They laid me on the ground and my face is still swollen, busted lip.”
Sources say police will attempt to develop enough information to obtain a search warrant for his home and car. Any weapons located could help match ballistics evidence gathered from vehicles hit by gunfire.

For now, DPS have released little information, refusing to say if the person of interest was stopped because of a tip, a description of his vehicle, or an overt action on his part that drew police attention.

In the last 12 days, police confirm 11 vehicles have been hit, eight by bullets and three by projectiles, likely from a bb or pellet gun.
Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead has called the incidents "domestic terrorism crimes."

"Anytime that you have multiple shootings against American citizens on a highway, that's terrorism," Milstead said. "They're trying to frighten or kill somebody." He did not elaborate.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/11...?intcmp=hplnws

I wonder if he's an illegal alien?