Has The "Serial Street Shooter" Claimed Another Life In Phoenix?

A 32-year-old man gunned down in a working class neighborhood in Phoenix (AZ) may be the tenth victim of the so-called “Serial Street Shooter,” who has now killed eight of the ten people he has apparently targeted at random.

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A man has been killed in a Phoenix neighborhood that’s been hit by a string of fatal shootings that authorities say appear to be the work of serial killer, reports CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV.

Police told the station a man was shot at about 10 p.m. Wednesday, then walked to a house in the Maryvale neighborhood, and collapsed and died outside.

Maryvale is one of two predominantly Latino neighborhoods in which a total of seven people have been killed and two others wounded in shootings from mid-March until mid-July.

Police haven’t tied this killing to the investigation of the other shootings in Maryvale.

I want to stress again that police have not officially tied last night’s murder to the previous nine shootings. The fact remains that the victim was shot in the area where the killer has carried out most of his attacks, at a time of night the killer has favored in the past, and the victim was apparently shot on a sidewalk beside a residential street, which also seems to fit the murderer’s attack profile.

Speaking of profiles, a former FBI profiler has some insights into what may be driving this whack job.

A former FBI profiler says it’s possible the Phoenix serial shooter is looking for “intimacy” in his attacks, and could even be inserting himself into the investigation.

The suspect is accused of killing seven people in nine shootings so far.

When the shooter killed 19-year-old Manuel Garcia, witnesses said he yelled something at his victim.

According to police documents, the 16-year-old boy who survived a separate attack in central Phoenix also said the killer yelled at him.

Former FBI profiler Brad Garrett said it’s part of the shooter’s thrill.

“One of the things for him, maybe, is ‘If I can get the person to look at me…’, it makes it even more fearful, or heinous on his part.  And it inflicts more fear in the victim before they get shot,” said Garrett.  “If they turn around, see him, and see a gun and get shot, that’s far different from just getting blindsided.”

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The proximity of recovered cartridge casings to the victims also suggest that the killer prefers the “thrill” of murdering people at very close range.

The one good thing about this sort of whack job thrill killer (according to the profiler) is that they often take unnecessary risks and he’ll hopefully be caught or killed soon. Let’s hope it happens before he can claim another life.

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