A suspect was identified in connection to an Arizona bus stop shooting where a man was shot 17 times and also left a toddler injured from stray gunfire, according to reports.
18-year-old Zackary Jacob Carillo faces attempted 2nd-degree murder and aggravated assault from the incident.
Phoenix police say the shooting happened just before midnight on May 5, 2023, near 43rd Avenue and Thomas Road. Officers arrived and found a man on a sidewalk near the Circle K who was seriously hurt. In addition, police found a car struck by a stray bullet. An injured infant, his mother, and a 2-year-old sibling were inside the vehicle. The victim and baby both survived the shooting.
Witnesses told detectives on the scene that two men with black hoodies had approached the victim when they shot him multiple times. The victim said he heard one of the men say, “Are you ready to die tonight,” and the victim believed he was about to be robbed, so he started walking to the convenience store. The victim reportedly fired back as he was shot.
Throughout the investigation, detectives linked Carrillo after a traffic stop on June 8 in Mesa and found that a gun in that vehicle was the same weapon used to shoot the victim. Investigators later obtained search warrants for his Facebook account and Google searches that showed Carrillo searching for news about the shooting hours after.
Carrillo was arrested on Wednesday and questioned. He allegedly admitted to shooting the victim at least twice using his gun but said he had fired multiple rounds trying to defend himself. Carrillo also reportedly knew that a baby was shot during the incident but didn’t think his gun was the one that hurt the child, so he refused to write an apology letter to the toddler’s family.
He was booked into the Maricopa County jail, where he is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond.
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