Phoenix police arrest 3 men suspected of aggravated assault

by Colin Lecher - Aug. 13, 2010 10:25 PM
The Arizona Republic

Three men were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault after threatening a Phoenix man with a shotgun after his sister broke up with one of them, police said. One man remained on the loose Friday night.

Four men, one armed with a shotgun, went to the victim's apartment near 19th and Glendale avenues and tried to goad him out, said Phoenix police Sgt. Steve Martos. The men had threatened him with a knife earlier in the day and threatened to damage his property earlier this week, Martos said.

The victim, who was inside the apartment with two of his nieces, refused to leave and called 911. When police arrived, the four men ran to a vehicle and drove to a nearby apartment complex, Martos said.

One man was arrested trying to get out of the car, but police set up a perimeter to catch the remaining three. Two more made it to a QuikTrip convenience store down the street, where they hid in the bathroom before employees called 911, Martos said. The fourth suspect was last seen at the complex and had not been found as of 10 p.m.

The two men fled the QuikTrip out a backdoor and into a nearby neighborhood. One was caught on the streets, but another forced his way into a woman's home and kept her from leaving, according to Martos.

A police officer searching the neighborhood saw her through the window and motioned for her to come outside so she could be interviewed. The officer found it suspicious when the woman ignored the officer's request, however, and police entered her home, arresting the man without incident.

Lesson in gun safety takes deadly turn of events in Mesa

PHOENIX – A young mother is dead and her boyfriend is behind bars after police say a lesson in gun safety took a deadly turn of events.

Initially the call came out as a possible suicide but police say the boyfriend changed his story and now they believe he is responsible.

Det. Steve Berry, with the Mesa Police Department, tells 3TV, "He had said that he had been somewhere else inside the home and heard a gunshot."

Police say 20-year-old Sheila Schurz was shot in the upper body although they would not say where or how many times. She was taken to the hospital where she later died.

Now police say her boyfriend, 21-year-old Bernardo Barraza is to blame.

Berry explains, "Some things in the story as to how it all occurred after she was transported away didn't seem to add up."

Police say Barraza gave them misleading information first claiming Schurz shot herself but then later changing his story.

Berry says, "They had recently purchased the handgun and he had apparently fallen asleep with it or something like that. There was some discussion as to the safety of the handgun…during the course of that discussion or whatever the gun discharged and she was struck."    

Barraza is charged with one count of second-degree murder, meaning it was not premeditated.

Investigators submitted second-degree charges instead of manslaughter or accidental death but have not explained why.

Police say there is no indication that the couple fought before Schurz was shot. The couple lived together in the apartment near McKellips Road and Mesa Drive with children from previous relationships although no kids were home at the time of the fatal shooting.

SHE SAYS: Guns scare me, why did you buy that, I don't want it in my house!!

HE SAYS: YO!! WASSUP BITCH? You think I don't know guns?  Lemme show you how I know guns (Puts his finger on the trigger, holds the gun on it side "gangster style", points it at her and shoots. DAMMIT BITCH!! Who put bullets in the gun??  Stop fuckin around and get up off the floor, you ain't hurt!!!  Get up Bitch!! oh Shit....

Even the ugly parts of life can be beautiful if you look up.