CASA GRANDE, AZ — Two boys, ages 15 and 16, are in custody and police are searching for an 18-year-old in the shooting that wounded a 10-year-old girl Sept. 14 on Casa Grande Avenue. Detectives made the Casa Grande shooting arrests Tuesday afternoon and have identified both teens as alleged shooters, the department said.
The third suspect, Francisco Solano Jr., 18, remains at large. Police describe him as armed and dangerous and warn the public not to contact him or try to take him into custody.
Casa Grande shooting arrests follow community tips and video
Police Chief Mark McCrory said witness accounts and video from residents, plus footage from the department’s Safe City technology, gave detectives what they needed to work out who they believe was involved. He said that cooperation is why the arrests came so quickly. He noted that many other people were in the area when the shots were fired. “Two suspects are now in custody, and our work is not finished,” he said.
Before the arrests in the Casa Grande shooting, police had released two videos showing four people they asked the public to help identify. The arrest announcement did not say whether any of the four are among the suspects.
Proposed charges
Police are referring proposed charges against both teens to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, which will review them. For each teen, they include five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of endangerment, one count of discharging a firearm at a residential structure, four counts of discharging a firearm at a non-residential structure, one count of discharging a firearm at an occupied structure in furtherance of a criminal street gang, and four other weapons-related counts: disorderly conduct with a weapon, two counts related to a minor possessing firearms, and unlawful discharge of a firearm in city limits. The 16-year-old also faces a proposed misconduct with weapons count; police allege he was a prohibited possessor.
How to help
Police ask anyone who knows where Solano is, or has credible information about the case, to call Detective Tyler Miller at (520) 840-2824 or email [email protected]. Tips can also go to the department’s non-emergency line, (520) 421-8700, option 7, or anonymously to Silent Witness at (520) 836-2100.
