Mesa police confirm suspect in nail salon homicide was killed by officers
Mar 3, 2018, 6:13 PM | Updated: Mar 4, 2018, 12:52 pm
(Facebook Photo/Mesa Police Department)
PHOENIX – Mesa police confirmed the suspect in connection with the murder of a woman at a Valley nail salon was shot and killed by authorities.
According to a release, authorities received numerous tips after surveillance photos and a video depicting the suspect was released on Feb. 28.
The tips led police to 36-year-old Christopher Race, a Mesa resident living in a mobile home community close to Premier Nails & Spa where Lindsey Eastridge was stabbed to death on Feb. 2.
Officers located Race around 11 a.m. on Friday in the Monte Vista Trailer Park Community near Ellsworth and Baseline roads. When they attempted to make contact, Race pulled a knife and rushed officers.
He was shot with non-lethal beanbag rounds but they had no effect. When he again advanced toward officers one of them opened fire, killing him.
A DNA analysis was expedited through the Mesa Police Forensic Lab, with preliminary results matching DNA collected at the nail salon.
Race’s death was the third officer-involved shooting that took place in the Valley on Friday.
The first fatal shooting happened near the Loop 101 and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale. Special agents from the Department of Homeland Security attempted to arrest a suspect in a parking lot when he pulled out a gun, forcing the agents to open fire.
The second fatal shooting occurred near 43rd and Dunlap avenues. It appeared there were two crime scenes, one of which at a nearby O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store.
A 44-year-old suspect with several outstanding felony warrants was killed after a tactical team attempted to take him or her into custody.
A Glendale officer was hurt in the incident and was in stable condition as of Saturday morning.