Man arrested for fatal shooting at Mesa bus stop
Oct 8, 2024, 8:23 PM | Updated: Oct 9, 2024, 6:45 am
(Mesa Police Department Photo)
PHOENIX – An arrest has been made following a fatal shooting at a Mesa bus stop, authorities announced on Tuesday.
Mesa police arrested Andrew Rada, 44, for allegedly shooting 52-year-old Michelle Flippin on Tuesday morning.
Around 7:30 a.m., officers responded to several reports of an active shooter near the Arco gas station at McKellips Road and Center Street.
Witnesses told authorities Rada had a rifle and was firing shots from the gas station parking lot.
Police later arrived and found Flippin unresponsive near a Mesa bus stop just south of the gas station. She was pronounced dead.
How was suspect in Mesa bus stop shooting captured?
Rada fled the scene in a burgundy Ram pickup before police located the vehicle with the help of witnesses and performed a traffic stop at McKellips Road and the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway. Rada was taken into custody and booked into jail on one count of first-degree murder.
A separate passenger in the truck was also taken into custody for an unrelated felony warrant but was not involved in the shooting, police said.
While being questioned, Rada said that Flippin was waving a weapon. However, detectives determined that Flippin was unarmed and that the two did not know each other. Detectives are not looking for more suspects and said the incident was isolated.
The investigation into the Mesa bus stop shooting is ongoing.