(Reuters) – A gunman, identified by local media as a prominent border militia leader and a reputed neo-Nazi, shot
dead four people including a toddler girl in Arizona on Wednesday before apparently committing suicide, police
said.
speaks during a news conference near the scene of a shooting in a residential area of Gilbert, Arizona May 2, 2012. A gunman
shot and killed four people including a toddler girl in a Phoenix suburb on Wednesday afternoon before apparently committing
suicide, police said. Balafas said the gunman opened fire at or near a house in a neighborhood of single-family homes in the
town of Gilbert. Police recovered two handguns and a shotgun from the scene. REUTERS/Joshua Lott
The gunman opened fire at a house in Gilbert, a suburb of Phoenix, Gilbert Police Sergeant Bill
Balafas said. He could not immediately confirm the identity of the gunman.
The Arizona Republic newspaper, citing
unnamed police sources, identified the suspected shooter as Jason “JT” Ready, a reputed neo-Nazi who founded the U.S. Border
Guard, a militia that hunts for drug traffickers near the Mexican border.
The youngest victim, a girl of between 1 and
2 years old, was still alive at the scene, but later died in a hospital, Balafas said. The other dead were two men and two
women. Police believe the shooter was among the dead.
Police found the bodies of two of the adults outside the home
and those of the other two adults and the child inside.
Officers recovered two handguns and a shotgun from the scene.
However, Balafas said police had been unable to search the house, and confirm the identities of the dead after an unknown
liquid was found in two 55-gallon drums outside the house.
“Right now, we have a hold up because we have a potential
hazardous chemical situation,” Balafas said.
Investigators subsequently found some “munitions” in the house, and
called in federal officers to deal with the items, Balafas said.
He declined to comment on whether Ready, who earlier
this year set up an exploratory committee to run for the office of sheriff in Arizona’s Pinal County, was among the
dead.
Balafas said officers were interviewing a witness to the shooting, which investigators believe stemmed from a
“domestic situation.”
A Facebook page entitled “JT Ready for Sheriff” carried a message from the administrator noting
unconfirmed reports that “a cartel assassination squad murdered JT Ready and several of his friends and family this afternoon
in Gilbert Arizona.”
A Reuters witness saw a black Chevrolet Impala with specialized number plate with the letters
“USBG” on it parked outside the home.
A call to the U.S. Border Guard group seeking comment late on Wednesday went
unanswered.
Local resident Scott Kirkwood, 43, said neighbors were shocked by the shooting at the home, which he
believed was occupied by a family.
“Everyone is shocked and concerned. Nothing like this ever happens in this
neighborhood. It’s usually very quiet,” he said.
“I heard sirens pulling up in my backyard. When I went to
investigate, there was like 30 cop cars, five ambulances, a fire truck, a SWAT team, the whole nine yards – it was just
blanketing the neighborhood,” he added.
(Additional reporting by Joshua Lott; Writing by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Cynthia
Johnston, Cynthia
Osterman and Lisa
Shumaker)
