Suspect charged in Arizona highway shootings, held on $1 million bond

[September 21, 2015]  By David Schwartz
 
 PHOENIX (Reuters) - A 21-year-old man arrested in connection with a spate of shootings along a major highway through Arizona made his initial court appearance on Saturday and said authorities had "the wrong guy."

Leslie Allen Merritt Jr of the Phoenix suburb of Glendale faces a range of charges that include four counts each of drive-by shooting, intentional acts of terrorism and aggravated assault involving a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.

Merritt was arrested on Friday evening as he entered a Wal-Mart store in Glendale with a woman and a 5-year-old child, said Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves.

Authorities had been monitoring him for most of the day.

Wearing gray and white prison stripes, Merritt on Saturday made his initial appearance before a commissioner in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.

He denied involvement in the shootings that began on Aug. 29 and have generated fear among motorists in Phoenix, the nation’s sixth most populous city.

"All I have to say is that I'm the wrong guy. I tried telling the detective that," said Merritt, who said he has two children.

"My gun's been in the pawn shop for the last two months. I haven't even had access to a weapon," he added.

Authorities have been investigating 11 possible vehicle shootings in Arizona, mostly on a 10-mile (16-km) stretch of Interstate 10 through Phoenix.

A 13-year-old girl with a slight cut to her ear is the only person injured in the spate of attacks.

Merritt, who has a criminal record for minor offenses, is suspected in the first four vehicle shootings that took place on Aug. 29 and Aug. 30.

Authorities have said a gun Merritt owned was "forensically linked" to the shootings. On Saturday, Graves revealed at a news conference that investigators found the weapon, a handgun, after canvassing pawn shops throughout the area.

Bullets shot from a handgun the investigators discovered at one shop matched fragments from some of the shootings, linking those to Merritt, Graves said.

He would not say how long the gun was at the pawn shop.

Graves said the investigation continues and reiterated that police still believe copycats could have carried out some of the other attacks.

He said authorities are still offering a $50,000 reward for information on the shootings and freeway message boards will continue to display a hotline number for tips.

Graves said there is no known motive for the attacks.

(Reporting by Katie Reilly,; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

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