Phoenix police chief’s goal before retirement: Catch the serial street shooter
Sep 12, 2016, 5:13 AM | Updated: 11:31 am
Retiring Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner (left) hopes to catch the serial street shooter before he retires next month. (AP and Phoenix Police Department Photos)
(AP and Phoenix Police Department Photos)
PHOENIX — Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner has one more thing to check off his list before he retires next month: Catch the person known as the serial street shooter.
“The street serial shooter, I want to get that solved,” he said. “We asked time and time again, we continue to get good tips in. We’re just waiting for that right tip to come in and put closure to that.”
Yahner has less than 60 days to find and arrest the suspect in the case. He is retiring on Oct. 28.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing the police department all the way through to the end,” he said. “That’s where my goals and my focus are.”
Nine shootings across the Valley have been linked to the shooter, in which seven people have been killed.
During a press conference last month announcing the reward for information in the case is as high as $75,000, Yahner said it is important the public remains vigilant and people keep talking about the serial street shooter.
“We believe by continuing to focus on this case, it will lead us to the information to solve it,” he said.
As of Aug. 25, police had received about 1,500 tips in the case.
If all nine incidents were carried out by the same person or group, they could be charged with as many as seven homicides and a slew of other shooting-related charges.
Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.
Yahner took over as the city’s police chief in early 2015. He is being replaced by Jeri Williams, the city’s first female chief, next month.
