http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1104Shootings04-ON.html arrested in I-10 shooting that left 4 dead, 5 wounded
Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic
Senta Scarborough and Chris Fiscus
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 4, 2003 05:45 PM
A freeway shooting Tuesday morning left four dead and a string of crime scenes stretching from just north of Casa Grande to the Valley, spurring local authorities to call for federal help to curb increasingly violent attacks aimed at immigrant smugglers.
Four Hispanic men were shot and killed about 8:30 a.m. as they drove in a two-truck convoy toward Phoenix on Interstate 10 just north of Casa Grande. Five others were wounded in the gunfire, and three more were hurt in a traffic accident caused by the shooting.
The westbound lanes of I-10 were shut down, snarling traffic from Tucson for more than eight hours.
Pinal County Sheriff Roger Vanderpool and officials of the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the incident is believed to be related to immigrant smuggling. It came on the same day that Mexican President Vicente Fox visited Phoenix in a bid to strengthen border relations.
"They were really bold and really brazen to drive on the interstate and start shooting individuals," Vanderpool said.
"It's a battle for turf, just like any drug cartel battling for turf in the drug trade. This is a battle in the struggle for human beings," he added.
"The (immigrant smuggling) problem is as violent as drug trafficking was years ago and is becoming increasingly dangerous - not only to the individuals trying to enter the country but, as you can see on this busy interstate, a rolling gunfight that is dangerous to all citizens in Arizona."
Shattered glass covered the stretch of freeway near the victims' bullet-riddled pickup, and Vanderpool said local law-enforcement officials are all facing the same issues.
"We need help from the federal government. These incidents are related directly to immigration," he said. "We have enough homegrown crime without having to deal with immigration."
Vanderpool said four suspects, all Hispanic males, are in custody. They were traveling in a gray Dodge Caravan and were stopped by authorities near Interstate 10 and Riggs Road.
Three assault-type weapons were found inside the van, and the suspects were taken to the Gila River Police Department, where they were being questioned Tuesday night. Their names have not been released.
Kyle Barnett, associate special agent in charge for ICE, said that about 40 agents and a Black Hawk helicopter were searching the desert for victims and witnesses who fled. An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter also searched the area.
"One of our agents found a guy with his toe blown off, his toe still in his hand," Barnett said. " We took him to the hospital."
Nine undocumented immigrants, who fled from the brown truck into the nearby desert, were found near Sacaton and detained. The search continued late Tuesday afternoon for two to four more who ran into the desert.
"Everbody that's been interviewed so far has claimed to be a Mexican citizen who is in this country illegally," Barnett said.
Barnett said carjackings aimed at alien smugglers and immigrants has become "a disturbing trend." It typically involves two hit vehicles and armed assailants.
"This is not the first time we're seeing this. It's a tactic that dopers used for ripping off loads," he explained. "They just carjack and steal the aliens, then hold them hostage until somebody pays."
Barnett said those involved are especially vicious, violent criminals. While smugglers and illegal immigrants may have broken the law, top priority in this case will be catching and prosecuting the rip-off specialists.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office is handling the homicide investigation. Thomas DeRouchey, interim special agent in charge in ICE's Phoenix office, said the agency will conduct a parallel investigation into the smuggling of undocumented immigrants.
Authorities give the following account:
At about 8:30 a.m., a brown Ford pickup truck and green Ford Explorer were driving together, headed west on I-10 toward Phoenix.
A gray Dodge Carvan pulled alongside and opened fire at milepost 182, just north of Casa Grande.
Several miles down the road, the brown Ford pulled over. Four Hispanic males were dead at the scene: the driver, a person in the back seat, one outside the vehicle and one in the truck's bed.
The driver of the Explorer also was shot and got out of the vehicle. A passenger grabbed the wheel and drove off.
The shooting caused a three-car accident involving a Tucson-area fire vehicle, a tractor-trailer and a car. One of those involved was Randy Karrer, operations chief for the Northwest Fire District, which serves an area north and west of Tucson. Karrer, 42, was headed to the Valley for a meeting when his 2001 Suburban was rear-ended by the tractor-trailer. He is in serious but stable condition at University Medical Center in Tucson. He was unavailable for comment.
The tractor-trailer driver, Douglas Siegworth, 46, of New Mexico, was uninjured. The truck belongs to Patrician Enterprise Inc. out of New Mexico.
The 2003 Intrepid passenger car was driven by Roberto Benavides , 43, from California. He and a passenger, Stanley Rackow, 88, both suffered head injuries and were taken to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.
Farther down the interstate, the federal Border Patrol, DPS and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office stopped the Caravan on the shoulder of Riggs Road, a few hundred yards from I-10.
And a few miles away, the DPS and ICE stopped the Explorer near Elliot Road on westbound I-10. There were five people still in the Explorer, a woman who was shot and four men who were uninjured. Windows on the passenger side in the back were shot out.
Officials closed a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 near Casa Grande, as well as Riggs Road west of the freeway and the westbound HOV lane of I-10 near Elliot Road during the morning commute. The freeway closure near Case Grande continued to create a bottleneck into the evening.
Includes information from Republic reporter Dennis Wagner.
The office I work for, the Pinal County Attorney's Office, will be handling this case so I cannot comment on any of the facts, other than what is reported here in the news. However I will point out two facts so they aren't missed:
1. It is against the law for a someone in the US illegally to posess a firearm.
2. It is interesting that this happened the same day Mexican President Fox was in Phoenix to talk about border issues.
Of course this wouldn't happened if they'd had driver's licenses.
