Phoenix police chief says more cases possibly linked to Serial Street Shooter
May 9, 2017, 5:57 PM | Updated: May 10, 2017, 11:16 am
(AP Photos)
(AP Photos)
PHOENIX — Investigators believe there are other shooting incidents linked to suspected Serial Street Shooter Aaron Saucedo, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said Tuesday.
In an interview with KTAR News’ 92.3 FM’s Mac and Gaydos, Williams said investigators think there could be other cases linked to Saucedo.
“There’s still an ongoing investigation,” Williams said.
Phoenix police arrested Saucedo on Monday as a suspect in the Serial Street Shooter case, which had killed nine and wounded two more from 2015 to 2016.
Williams said the department had been investigating the link between Saucedo and the shootings for “a month or so,” after he was arrested in April in connection with an Aug. 16, 2015 fatal shooting in Phoenix.
“We had been putting the pieces [together], linking things together, fully disclosing [the investigation] the entire time,” Williams said.
But Williams said tips from the community were the “little nuggets of information we needed” to help bring the investigation full circle.
The community had called in 33,000 tips, which Williams said were “key in breaking the case.”
“If we did not put that information out to the public,” Williams said of the suspect description and other details that were released, “we would not have this arrest today.”
Williams said the department had been “cautiously optimistic” as it continued the investigation because they “wanted to make sure that we made a case, not just an arrest.”
Former Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner, who had been working on the investigation during his time in the department, was “undeniably relentless” in making sure Williams kept the momentum going, she said.
When Williams was gearing up to tell the public the news, she said Yahner was the first person she called.
“We knew justice was in the process of being served on someone,” Williams said. “[Yahner] said, ‘Oh my, God, congratulations! That’s amazing.'”
Saucedo is suspected in at least 12 of the shootings and faces 27 additional felony charges, including eight counts of first-degree murder.
He declared his innocence in court on Tuesday.
