Police link 4 fatal shootings in Scottsdale area through ballistics

PHOENIX — Police in the Phoenix area said the same gun was used in four fatal shootings in or near Scottsdale that were spread over three days.

Authorities said Monday that law enforcement officials said the killings of Dr. Steven Pitt, paralegals Veleria Sharp and Laura Anderson and hypnotherapist Marshall Levine all occurred at their places of business.

The suspect, identified by ABC News as Dwight L. Jones, died later in the day at a hotel of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Pitt, who became a nationally renown forensic psychiatrist, working on such cases as the JonBenet Ramsey murder and Phoenix’s Baseline Killer serial murders, was shot to death Thursday. His office was near Scottsdale and Bell roads.

A witness told police Pitt, 59, and another man had been arguing before he heard gunshots.

Sharp, 48, and Anderson, 49, were shot Friday near First and 75th streets. Police said one of the women managed to walk to an intersection to seek help despite a gunshot wound to her head. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

The body of 72-year-old Levine was found at his office near Mountain View and Hayden roads.

A sketch of the suspect was released over the weekend.

This image released by the Phoenix Police Department shows a sketch of the suspect in the first of three shooting deaths in Phoenix. It shows a white man wearing a dark hat. The shooting death of a prominent forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Steven Pitt, who assisted in high-profile murder cases including serial killings in Phoenix is connected to the killings of two paralegals, said authorities, who were investigating Saturday, June 2, 2018, whether a fourth homicide was also related. (Phoenix Police Department via AP)

Police had initially been unsure whether the shootings were related.

“We are working closely with Phoenix Police Department in all three of these cases,” Scottsdale Police Sgt. Ben Hoster said Saturday, after the discovery of Levine’s body.

Hoster also said there was no indication that family members of the victims were in danger.

A $21,000 reward had been offered for an arrest and conviction in the murders.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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