PHOENIX (3TV / CBS 5) – An Apache Junction man is charged with first degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting in Phoenix a week ago. Officials arrested Arthur Paul Hunter in Mesa on Tuesday. He is held on a $ 1 million secured bond.
Police received an 911 call on Thursday afternoon, August 5, reporting gunfire in the area of 22nd and Southern Avenues. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found a wounded man on the floor near a community mailbox. This man died in the hospital.
The first witness investigators spoke to said he lived nearby and drove to the scene after hearing the gunfire. The witness said he saw another man standing near a Chevy Tahoe by the mailboxes. The witness said he thought the man who was later identified as Hunter called 911 because he was on the phone. The man drove away when the officers pulled up. Police confirmed that Hunter had actually called 911 before leaving the scene.
According to the statement on the likely reason for the arrest, 48-year-old Hunter initially told police he was driving in the area and stopped when he saw the victim on the ground.
Investigators eventually discovered that a silver 2017 Mercedes parked across the street had been reported as stolen by Hunter. According to police, he reported a second vehicle, a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sports, that was stolen at the same time. Both vehicles were brought from a house in Fountain Hills on the night of August 1st.
Police said a witness who worked for Hunter told investigators that the victim helped her clean the Fountain Hills house where the stolen Mercedes and Volkswagen had come earlier in the day on August 1. She said she found out the next day that the vehicles had been stolen, and the victim – the man who helped her – was seen on a video she was taping.
Court documents indicate that Hunter confessed to a friend that he shot the victim. The friend told police Hunter was angry about the stolen vehicles and concerned about how the situation could affect his reputation as a company.
According to the likely cause, investigators spoke to Hunter again the day before his arrest, and he stuck to his story of driving around and seeing the victim. He told investigators that he had no further information about what happened that afternoon.
After police arrested him Tuesday, Hunter reportedly admitted shooting the victim and told the detective he believed the victim reached for a gun even though he did not see a gun. “Arthur’s statements were consistent with the fact that he shot [the victim] back when he ran away, ”explain court documents. Police also said that when asked if Hunter thought the shooting was justified, said that it was not.
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