Jerod MacDonald-Evoy

The Republic | azcentral.com

Phoenix police arrested a man Friday suspected of shooting and killing a retired police officer at a Valley casino on Christmas Eve, according to police and federal agents.

John Albert Campos Jr., 47, was taken into custody Friday afternoon.

At around 4:30 p.m., Phoenix police responded to a suspicious-person call in the area of 24th street and Broadway road, according to Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Vince Lewis. Police said the caller named Campos.

When officers approached Campos, he fled on a bicycle until he collided with a car near 23rd and Mangolia streets, Lewis said. Campos received minor abrasions and was taken into custody, Lewis said. Later, police confirmed Campos' identity.

Police had accused Campos of shooting retired Bakersfield, Calif., police Officer Frank Pascua on Christmas Eve near the entrance to Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino. Campos then stole the vehicle of a bystander who came to the aid of the fallen man and fled in that car, authorities said.

Pascua, 52, retired in 2003 after a 6½-year career with the Bakersfield police, said that department's Lt. Allan Abney. Pascua retired after a traffic collision and had a winter home in the Valley.

Police name suspect in fatal shooting at casino

Last week, the FBI offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to Campos' capture. The bureau confirmed the reward amount Friday.

The shooting took place around 9 p.m. Christmas Eve near the entrance of the busy casino on the Gila River Reservation, according to Gila River Detective Robert Hawkes.

Campos was convicted in 2005 of numerous violent crimes, including armed robbery and kidnapping. He was released from prison in 2014, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.

The shooting was the "only incident of it's kind" to ever occur on any of the community's three casinos, with police calling it a "random act of violence."

The Phoenix Police Department was not immediately available for comment, and early details were scant.