An unanswered noise complaint was made about 55 minutes before a shooting unfolded at an Arizona home on Saturday night that left two people dead and five injured, police said.
“There was a lot of parties going on throughout the Yuma community with all the graduations and stuff, so yes, there was a call about 55 minutes beforehand, but the officers were also all tied up on the other calls for service,” Yuma Police Chief Thomas Garrity said in a news conference Monday. “There was no indication that there was any type of violence or anything going wrong, which would’ve made it a priority call at that point.”
A house party was being held at a home in the 3800 block of S. J Edward Drive when an altercation led to a shooting Saturday night, according to Garrity.
Officers responded to the home at around 10:54 p.m and found seven male victims.
Two of the victims, 19 and 20 years old, were taken to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead. Police identified them as Danny Garcia, 19, and Ande Blackthunder, 20.
Of the other victims, who range in age from 15 to 19, three were released from the hospital by Sunday morning and two were flown to Phoenix Hospital for treatment where they are in stable condition.
Police are following up on investigative leads but wouldn’t confirm if there is a suspect in custody in connection with the shooting.
“We can’t confirm a suspect at this time because of those investigative leads,” Garrity said.
A motive still hasn’t been determined, but this wasn’t a random act, Garrity mentioned, adding that all the individuals involved were known to each other.
Over 30 rounds were fired during the shooting and several weapons were recovered from the scene and are awaiting forensics testing, according to police.
There were “up to 100” guests at the party, which was thrown by a relative of the homeowners while they were out of town, according to Garrity. The homeowners have been cooperating with police.
Police would not confirm what the relationship between the homeowners and the individual who threw the party is.
Off-duty officers who were in the area assisted in responding to the shooting, according to Garrity, including a California Highway Patrolman, a Yuma detective, two Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents and the wife of one of those agents, who is a nurse.
Police are continuing to encourage anyone with information on the incident to come forward, adding that if their information leads to an arrest, a cash reward of up to $1,000 may be offered.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
