Police: Suspect in custody in Arizona shootings

Craig Harris, Matthew Casey and Parker Leavitt | The Arizona Republic

Show Caption Hide Caption Police: Suspect in custody in Arizona shootings Investigators are determining what caused a man to shoot six people in Mesa, Arizona. At least one person has died from that shooting spree.

MESA, Ariz. — Police have arrested a gunman accused of killing one person and injuring five others Wednesday morning in a shooting rampage in multiple locations across a suburb of Phoenix.

Police had to use a stun gun on the suspect who was found in a vacant condo.

Mesa police identified the suspect as Ryan Elliott Giroux, an ex-convict with a criminal record dating back to the mid-1990s.

Television cameras captured authorities walking a suspect completely covered from head to toe in a white biological evidence suit. The suspect's hands were cuffed in front of him.

Television helicopters followed the suspect from when he was taken into custody by law enforcement at a Mesa apartment complex to the hospital where he was escorted inside with a heavy police presence.

A spokeswoman for Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa confirmed that a person with the name Ryan Elliott Giroux is undergoing treatment at the hospital. He was released into police custody around 2:30 p.m., the hospital said. The hospital did not say what, if any, injuries he had or treatment he was given.

Giroux has a criminal record dating back to 1995, according to Arizona Department of Correction records.

He was released from DOC custody in October 2013.



Court records show Giroux was sentenced to two months in jail in May 2014 for a probation violation. He had been on a probation from a 2007 case, in which he was found guilty of misconduct involving weapons. A notation on his probation form shows he was supposed to abide by special conditions for "mental health."







According to court records, Giroux has had seven felony convictions. He served 7.5 years in prison.



The shooting began around 8:45 a.m. local time at the Tri-City Inn when three people — two females and one male — were shot in a motel room. The male later died. Mesa police say they believe the suspect knew at least one of the motel room victims.

The gunman then ran to a nearby restaurant run by the East Valley Institute of Technology and stole a car. A student also was shot in the shoulder during the carjacking, according to police.

The man took off in a stolen car and traveled to the Emelita Avenue and South Longmore area, where two more people were shot. One individual was wounded during a home invasion and a police source said one of the victims was a maintenance worker at an apartment complex.

Tri-City Inn owner Sumantrai Patel said he woke to the sound of gunfire just after 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

He said there was more than one bang but he wasn't sure whether it was a car backfiring or something else.

"I ran to my window and looked out. I saw people running," said Patel. "Then I went to the apartment and I saw the lady in the room on the phone. She was calling police."

Patel said the tenants are an unemployed couple who have lived at the residential motel for about three months. He said they worked at the motel in exchange for rent and sometimes food.

Patel would not identify his tenants by name or age. He said they were boyfriend and girlfriend. The boyfriend's mother was recently released from the hospital and had been staying in the unit for a few days. He said he has not had any problems with them.

"Not at all," he said. "I know his mom and everybody. He helped me out with jobs."

Vinny Carbone, who works at Starfire Restorations, said he heard a person from the Bistro restaurant yelling for help around 8:30 a.m.

"I looked down towards Longmore, and I just looked, and I saw a lady sitting on a chair, and it looked like a bullet hole (in her torso)," Carbone said. "She was shaking, she had a white shirt on, it looked like a pretty big hole."

Carbone said the woman who was shot was White and in her 50s, and he saw another man come out of the motel with blood on his shirt.

"Everybody was running out of the parking lot. I saw about eight people running out, but only two (out of the motel) that had injuries," he said.

Frank Underwood, 25, who lives in an apartment complex in the area, said he saw a man running from police as he approached his home.

Underwood got out of his car to see what was happening, when a police helicopter overhead told him to get back in his vehicle.

Underwood then got a text message from his neighbor, warning him about a man who was shooting multiple people and taking their cars.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona's senior Sen. John McCain, also a Republican, issued statements saying their thoughts and prayers were with the people of Mesa. Ducey pledged full assistance and cooperation from the state Department of Public Safety to help in the investigation.

"I've spoken to Mayor Giles and offered the full support and resources of the state in handling this senseless shooting," Ducey's statement said. "I've also directed the Arizona Department of Public Safety to assist Mesa with any and all resources required.

"Right now, our hearts and prayers are with the people of Mesa, the individuals affected by this tragedy, and all law enforcement and first responders working to assist the victims," Ducey's statement said.

Early reports said the shooting at multiple locations on Wednesday morning left four people injured and others calling in for medical assistance, fire officials said. The Mesa police department's spokesman said they have at least three confirmed scenes, but could have as many as five or six.

The shooting caused a lockdown at Mesa Community College, said Andrew Tucker, a Maricopa Community Colleges spokesman.

In addition, the East Valley Institute of Technology put out a tweet saying that "parents have been notified" in regards to an incident on its main campus.

East Valley Institute of Technology offers tuition-free programs, such as culinary arts and nursing, to high school students who live in 10 East Valley school districts — Mesa, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Tempe, Apache Junction, Chandler, Gilbert, Higley, Queen Creek and J.O. Combs. These students, including charter-school and home-schooled students, spend half their day at the institute and the other half at their high school or home school.

Contributing: Megan Cassidy and Ken Alltucker, The Arizona Republic; The Associated Press