1 Dead In West Valley Shootings; 13 Others Injured

PHOENIX, AZ — One person has been killed and at least 13 others have been injured in a series of shootings in West Valley Thursday, officials said at a news conference.

At least four people were injured by gunfire while the others suffered injuries from shrapnel and other causes, Peoria police said.

The shootings occurred across eight locations along west Bell Road, as well as Northern Avenue, west Union Hills Drive, north El Mirage Road, Loop 101 and Thunderbird Road and Loop 303 and Happy Valley Road, starting just after 11 a.m., according to Peoria police.

The person who was killed died on Loop 101 near U.S. 60, Peoria police said.

Multiple jurisdictions, including police in Peoria, Surprise, Glendale, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, ATF, Arizona Department of Public Safety and the FBI are involved in investigating the shooting.

A man was arrested in connection with the shootings just before 12:45 p.m. by Surprise police.

The area where the Surprise shootings broke out have a number of businesses nearby, including 5 & Diner, Angry Crab Shack and Hurricane Grill & Wings.

Peoria and Surprise are suburbs located less than 25 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix with combined population of almost 300,000 people.

"What I can tell you is that the suspect has been taken into custody and there's no reason for the public not to feel safe at this time," Surprise Police Department Sargent Tommy Hale said at the press conference.

Banner Health released the following statement to Patch:

"This afternoon, Banner Health West Valley facilities were on lockdown, which has since been lifted," Banner Health Service told Patch. "Three Banner Health hospitals received patients from today’s drive-by shooting incident - two at Banner Boswell, three at Banner Thunderbird and four at Banner Del Webb. Federal patient privacy laws prevent us from providing additional information."

Charges in this case are still being evaluated and will be released once he's booked into jail, police said.

Anyone with information about the shootings was asked to call Peoria police at 623-773-8311 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.