One dead, 13 injured in series of drive-by shootings in US

Arizona police in US had a suspect in custody after one person was killed and 13 other people were injured in a series of what appeared to be drive-by shootings Thursday, reports nbcnews.

Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter in the West Valley, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix, at about 12:30 pm local time, the Surprise Police Department tweeted initially.
The shooting spree resulted in eight separate incidents within about an hour and a half, Surprise and Peoria police said.

Officials believe the first incident occurred at about 11:10 a.m. on the border of Glendale and Peoria and continued through the area until the suspect was detained at about 12:42 pm.

At least four of the victims were shot, and others were injured either in resulting car accidents or by shrapnel, Peoria police Sgt. Brandon Sheffert said. The 13 injured people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to survive.

"We don't know the nexus. We don't know what the motive was. We don't have an idea of what this person was thinking when he went out and did this," Sheffert said. "Obviously, we want to figure this out, because there's a lot of scared people and people this affected."

Peoria police are leading the investigation into the shooting spree, which occurred in multiple jurisdictions.

Surprise police officers took the suspect, a man who was not identified, into custody without incident. He pulled into a parking lot and did not try to fire at police officers during a traffic stop, Surprise police Sgt. Tommy Hale said.

"What I can tell you is that the suspect that we're seeing, the vehicle that we're seeing, he's been taken into custody, and there's no reason for the public to feel unsafe at this time," Hale said.

ALM