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.


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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/