DPS identifies person arrested on unrelated charges after questioning in I-10 shootings
Sep 11, 2015, 10:55 AM | Updated: 9:55 pm
This Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015 photo provided by The Arizona Department of Public Safety shows a SUV window shattered by a gun shot in Phoenix. Authorities say shots were fired at several vehicles on Interstate 10 in Phoenix over the weekend, with bullets striking three vehicles and injuring one person. (The Arizona Department of Public Safety via AP)
(The Arizona Department of Public Safety via AP)
PHOENIX — A person of interest in the investigation of the Interstate 10 shootings was booked on unrelated charges around 6:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Officials said 19-year-old Oscar De La Torre Munoz of Avondale was booked into the 4th Avenue Jail for possession of marijuana after being detained in a convenience store near 107th Avenue and Indian School Road in Phoenix.
Nineteen-year-old Oscar De La Torre Munoz (Photo: MCSO)
Officials detained Munoz for questioning in relation to the Phoenix freeway shootings along with a woman Friday afternoon, but she was later released.
Authorities spent Friday morning responding to several calls regarding the shootings. One woman called police around dawn to say she thought her car had been shot at on Interstate 17, but a check of her car revealed no damage.
DPS has confirmed 11 shootings since late August on Valley freeways. So far, only one person has been reported injured — a child sprayed with broken glass.
Some of the vehicles have been hit by pellets. Some have been hit early morning, others in the evening and one late at night.
Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Frank Milstead told KTAR’s Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes Show that different weapons were involved and the methods varied, “but we’ll solve this one of two ways … tips or the diligence of detectives.”
Milstead went on to say that he would advise his daughter not drive on the freeway for the time being.
The shootings began late morning Aug. 29, when an SUV heading east on I-10 near 19th Avenue was hit by a bullet.
Within a few minutes, a westbound tour bus was shot at on the freeway between 35th and 67th avenues.
State troopers have been patrolling freeways from early morning to night.
Milstead called the shootings an “act of cowardliness.”
DPS said the investigation remains open.
A $20,000 reward has been posted for information leading to the arrest of the suspected serial shooter.
DPS can be contacted at 602-644-5805.
