PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Two people have been wounded and another person has been detained by police following a shooting in northeast Phoenix. The shooting was reported shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday at a home on East Hearn Road, near 40th Street and Thunderbird Road. When officers arrived, they found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound. Police moved her to safety, and she was taken to an area hospital.
Officers then found a second shooting victim, who was also rushed to a hospital. Phoenix police say one of them has life-threatening injuries.
Near the Paradise Valley Mall, people in this neighborhood say there is more to this story. Before the shooting, they’d been warned about suspicious drug activity at the home where the shooting happened. Neighbors say a letter was left on their car windshields and in their mailboxes prior to this incident. It claims the man who owns the home where the shooting happened was selling fentanyl. It urged people to reach out to the police if they saw anything. Phoenix police say they are looking into this, but in the meantime, neighbors say everything is beginning to add up. “Whatever is going on that prompted this really needs to be addressed,” Andrew Henges, who lives in the area, said. “It’s unfortunate because our neighborhood does not see a lot of that and we don’t want to see any of it.”
Police say they did take someone into custody. But the strange twist here, those living in the area believe drugs were being sold out of the home where the shooting happened. That’s because of the anonymous letter that says it was written by someone who wrote, “my son overdosed on something he had bought from the man” who owned the home. It goes on to allege that “this man is allowing his home to be used as a hub for receiving very large amounts of fentanyl and is dealing right from his house.”
Neighbors say they have noticed some signs. “You see people pull up and they don’t get out of their cars. They pull up for 10 seconds or five minutes or whatever,” Erin Dolby, who has lived in the area for three years, said. “This could’ve been when our kids were getting out of school.”
Dolby says she is cautious but hopeful the problem could go away. “We might be able to sleep more soundly knowing that no other child is going to be buying drugs or buy something laced with fentanyl,” Dolby said.
Police have not released any of the names of those involved, or what led up to the shooting. Once we have more information, we will make sure to update you.
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