Phoenix police say that a serial shooter has struck for the ninth time.
The Phoenix Police Department have connected a spate of mysterious shootings that have killed seven people and wounded two, to a suspect they call the “Serial Street Shooter.”
Authorities revealed on Wednesday the latest case they believe is connected to the suspect.
On the evening of July 11, a suspect shot at a vehicle in a residential area of Phoenix. Two people, a 21-year-old man and a 4-year-old boy, who had been sitting inside the car were not injured.
Police found physical evidence and a lot of similarities between the latest shooting and the previous eight, said Phoenix Police spokesman Sgt. Jonathan Howard. Like the previous shootings, there was “no apparent motive, no pre-incident contact.”
“There are a lot of things that struck investigators as resembling the serial shooter’s scheme,” Howard said.
Police revealed this information a month after the shooting, because “it took awhile for investigators to connect the evidence and witness information to draw the conclusion that this incident was linked to the serial shooter,” he said.
Authorities also increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect to $50,000 after the FBI added an additional $20,000.
Last month, authorities released a composite sketch of the suspect, who was described as a lanky Hispanic male under 5 feet, 10 inches tall. Witnesses have described him as a light-skinned Latino or white man in his 20s.
Based on witness statements, investigators say that “the suspect has access to multiple vehicles, but the two best described are a white Cadillac or Lincoln type vehicle and a black late 90’s or early 2000’s 5 Series BMW.”
The shootings have been concentrated in the low-income neighborhood of Maryvale, with many of the victims shot while standing outside their homes, police said.
Police say the suspect shoots his victims at night with a semi-automatic handgun.
The shootings began March 17, when a 16-year-old boy was shot and wounded while walking on the street at 11:30 p.m., according to police.
A 21-year-old man was shot and wounded the next night.
Two people were killed in April. Five people were killed in June.