"Serial Shooter" Suspects Arrested

[Bastastic]

Finally got these bastards. Now there's only the "Baselline Killer" to deal with.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14180059/


PHOENIX - Two men have been arrested in connection with dozens of shootings, six of them fatal, that have terrorized Phoenix area residents over the last two years in what's become known as the "Serial Shooter" case, police said Friday.
“We do have two suspects in custody,” Sgt. Andy Hill told reporters Friday morning. “They’re at Phoenix police headquarters in the Serial Shooter case.”
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press that the arrests were made at an apartment complex in Mesa.

NBC affiliate KPNX reported that one person was being held as the alleged shooter and the other as the alleged driver.
Phoenix police were to provide details at a press conference at 1 p.m. ET.
Earlier Friday, authorities searched a Mesa apartment building for evidence. Investigators were seen walking out with several firearms.
Resident Loraine Salyers said she lives near where police came in. "I came out and there were like a hundred cops," Salyers said. "I was so scared. My heart's pounding."

(Sentence redacted)

Authorities say the so-called “Serial Shooter” is responsible for three dozen shootings of people, dogs and horses. The shootings have generally happened late at night, with no witnesses. Six people were killed and 17 — mostly pedestrians and bicyclists — have been wounded since May 2005.

Woman killed Sunday
On Thursday, authorities said they had linked the death of a woman who was gunned down while walking to the serial shootings.

The shooting was linked to earlier cases because of similarities and forensic evidence, said Mesa police spokesman Sgt. Chuck Trapani.
Robin Blasnek, 22, was walking to her boyfriend’s home in Mesa, a suburb east of Phoenix, at about 11:15 p.m. Sunday when she was gunned down. Neighbors heard a shot and ran to help the young woman, but she soon lost consciousness and died at a hospital.

Her father told the East Valley Tribune that Blasnek grew up as a special needs child and lived part time with her parents in Mesa and a group home in Tempe.

“She was just a great kid. Very, very naive, and pure as far as not understanding the dangers of the world,” Steve Blasnek said. “I guess my only regret is that I didn’t give her a big hug.”

Second serial case
About 200 officers have been working to try to solve the case, plus another case involving a serial criminal dubbed the Baseline Killer after the road on which the first crimes took place.

The Baseline Killer is believed responsible for killing seven women and one man and sexually assaulting 11 women and girls during the past year. Police think his most recent killing was the shooting death of 37-year-old woman at a Phoenix car wash June 29.

A $100,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the capture of either killer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.