Cops Say They Finally Caught Phoenix's 'Serial Street Shooter'

On Monday, police officers in Phoenix, Arizona, announced the capture of the man they believe is the so-called Serial Street Shooter who shot and killed nine people since 2015, terrorizing the city months. VICE recently traveled to Phoenix to report on the spate of then-unsolved murders and spoke with the families of many of the shooter's victims.

According to the Arizona Republic, 23-year-old Aaron Juan Saucedo was originally arrested back on April 19 for allegedly murdering his mom's boyfriend, Raul Romero. After being in police custody for about a month—and declared a "person of interest" in the serial killer case—cops said Monday that they now had a "wide host of evidence" to connect Saucedo to 12 shootings as a legit suspect. They believe all but one victim was shot at random.

"This case plagued our community for more than a year and left behind a trail of victims that included mothers, sons, brothers, sisters, and families still mourning the loss of their loved ones," Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams said Monday, according to the Washington Post. "We hope that our community will rest a little easier and that our officers will get a little more sleep knowing that the wheels of justice are finally in motion."

Along with roughly 3,300 witness tips, Phoenix Police spokesman Sergeant Jonathan Howard said surveillance, ballistics, and forensic evidence led them to zero in on Saucedo as the main suspect. They believe he is responsible for killing nine people and wounding two others in a spate of shootings that spanned between August 2015 and July 2016. Most of the victims were gunned down in the predominately Latino area of West Phoenix at their homes, like Sylvia Ellis's 33-year-old daughter and 12-year-old granddaughter, who were shot sitting in a car outside her home last June. (Thirty-one-year-old Angela Linner, Ellis's partner, was also killed.)

"My eyes open every night at three now, the same time as when the murders happened. It happens almost like an alarm clock," Ellis told VICE. "Every day the shooting plays in my head like a video. I'm still living inside of that nightmare."

According to Howard, police have yet to pin down a motive for Saucedo. He's been charged with 26 felony counts of homicide, aggravated assault, and drive-by shooting, the Post reports.

"Our officers didn't rest. Investigators worked every lead. They followed the evidence," Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton said Monday. "They had a clear mission: Get the killer to justice and get it right."