Mesa CVS store manager killed in shooting; suspect in custody
Sep 8, 2023, 10:16 AM
Jared Sevey is accused of shooting and killing the manager of a CVS store in Mesa, Arizona, on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (Mesa Police Department Photo)
(Mesa Police Department Photo)
PHOENIX — A suspect is in custody after a Mesa CVS store manager was killed in a shooting Thursday night, authorities said.
Jared Sevey, 38, apparently was involved in an altercation with the victim, 49-year-old Michael Jacobs, over shoplifting allegations earlier that day, according to court records.
Officers responded to a shooting call at the CVS on the southwest corner of Brown Road and Mesa Drive around 8:10 p.m., the Mesa Police Department said.
They found Jacobs inside with multiple gunshot wounds. Jacobs was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.
How did Mesa police locate murder suspect?
A caller provided a description of a suspect and told police which way he went.
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Detectives with Mesa’s Real Time Crime Center reviewed camera footage and located a man matching the suspect’s description walking across the street from the pharmacy.
Officers found the man at the northeast corner of Brown Road and Mesa Drive and saw him throw a gun into a canal, police said. The gun was retrieved later.
Sevey was taken into custody and allegedly admitted to the shooting, police said.
“Jared later stated under Miranda that during this altercation, the store manager (victim), ‘swung’ on him but did not hit him,” the probable cause statement for Sevey’s arrest says. “Jared stated that this incident was the last straw and that prior to this he had told himself that the next guy who ‘touched’ him would ‘feel like he feels.'”
What led up to fatal shooting at Mesa CVS?
Sevey had been in the store around 4:30 p.m. that day and was confronted for allegedly shoplifting. The store opted not to press charges.
Sevey allegedly went home, picked up a gun and returned to the store several hours later. He asked to see the manager and told an employee to get everyone out of the store, according to the probable cause statement.
Video surveillance footage showed Jacobs arriving and Sevey pulling a pistol from his waistband and shooting the manager multiple times.
Sevey was booked into jail on counts of first-degree murder, prohibited weapon possession and tampering with evidence.
