About our local serial shooter who doesn’t scare you
Usually, politicians and law-enforcement officials come out in force at a big public press conference to urge calm, to offer reassurance, to allay fear. This time, the idea was to scare the bejesus out of you. Standing up there in a gaggle before the microphones and TV cameras last week were Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI Phoenix field office, the U.S. marshal for the District of Arizona, and assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
They were there to talk about a serial shooter on the loose in our community.
They were there to announce, among other things, that there was now a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
They were there to plead for your help.
They were there to implore you, to motivate you, to give you the willies, curdle your blood … to scare you to death. But … nothing. No fear. Not that I can tell. You’ve got to give them credit for trying. Brnovich went so far as to say, “The life you save may be your very own or may be one of your loved ones.”
There have been nine shooting incidents that police say are linked. There have been seven deaths. The victims have ranged in age from 12 to 55. Police have found no connection between them. The gunman has attacked his victims with a semi-automatic handgun. Not too long ago he pulled up in a black BMW next to a car driven by young man who had his 4-year-old nephew with him. The gunman fired several shots into their car, miraculously missing both victims and then speeding away.
Law-enforcement officials are going all out to catch this murderer. (Anyone with information can contact the Police Department Violent Crimes Bureau at 602-262-6141 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or toll free at 800-343TIPS.)
What about the rest of us? Are we going all out? I got a call over the weekend from a man who said he believed the media and the public would be a lot more interested in the case, if not totally freaked out, if the first batch of shootings hadn’t been clustered in Maryvale but in one of the Valley’s more fashionable, “upper class” neighborhoods, of which he named several. I’ll be honest. I don’t know. It’s possible. But it’s not helpful, now, to argue about geography or economic status.
Authorities are giving the case their best and asking for our help. There is a murderer in town picking victims seemingly at random, as if for sport. Rather than talking about where we reside, we need to concentrate on where the killer should reside.
Prison.