Phoenix • A man questioned in a string of Phoenix freeway shootings is not the prime suspect and investigators are pressing ahead with leads in a case that has left the city on edge for two weeks, authorities said Saturday.
A 19-year-old man from a Phoenix suburb who was detained Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is a person of interest, but Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves declined to say what led police to question him. The man has been booked into jail on an unrelated marijuana possession charge.
"This is an open investigation, and we are going to go where it leads us," Graves said.
Many Phoenix drivers have avoided freeways since the 11 confirmed shootings began Aug. 29, mostly along I-10, a major route through the city. Eight of the cars were hit with bullets and three with projectiles that could have been BBs or pellets. One girl's ear was cut by glass as a bullet shattered her window.
Graves said the investigation was moving forward and authorities were not concerned about the public growing complacent now that someone has been questioned. Police were still seeking tips, with freeway message boards across the city continuing to flash a tip-line number.
The shooting scenarios have varied. Some involved bullets fired at random cars, others involved projectiles and one was apparently road rage, Graves said.
Graves said Friday that investigators were questioning the man "about a number of things" besides the freeway shootings, but he declined to disclose what that entailed. People who answered phones registered to the man's address said they weren't related to him.
The man, who had his initial court appearance late Friday, is being held without bond because he had a warrant out for his arrest on a probation violation, said Deputy Joaquin Enriquez, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
The man pleaded guilty a month ago to an endangerment charge. He was set to be sentenced Thursday, but it's not clear whether that hearing took place. Enriquez said the man also was booked in May on an allegation of car racing.
A message left Saturday for Laura Anderson, his attorney in the endangerment case, wasn't returned. After being apprehended, the man told Fox 10 in Phoenix (KSAZ-TV) from the back of a squad car that officers surrounded him and his mother, guns drawn, after he bought a pack of cigarettes and a drink at a convenience store.
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