PHOENIX — Four men and a deadly crime spree.
That’s how police described the arrest in Phoenix, Arizona after a deadly crime spree early Wednesday morning.
Now, according to police documents, the men involved in the were driving around “looking for homeless people to shoot” and “people to rob and vehicles to steal”.
One of the victims was sitting in his vehicle in his driveway near 7th and Grovers avenues. He said that’s when two men wearing masks approached him.
He told police that one of the men fired a “black rifle” at the driver’s window, shattering it, and demanded he get out of the car.
Then the suspects jumped into a white Jeep Cherokee that was waiting for them and drove away, while the victim followed them while calling police.
Officers caught up to the jeep near 17th and Grovers avenues and the suspects bailed from the car. They were quickly arrested and a black Daisy airsoft pellet gun was found in the area.
During that whole event, a call came in that a woman had been shot while standing in a McDonald’s drive-through area near 18th Avenue and Bell Road.
The report said she had been shot by someone in a similar vehicle.
That woman was 38-year-old Leanne Holum.
And horrifically, she died from her injuries at a hospital – injuries that doctors confirmed were caused by a pellet-like object.
Around the same time, a 17-year-old boy called police and said he had been shot at a few minutes earlier by someone in a white SUV.
He told police that as the jeep drove by him, multiple people stuck a rifle out the window and shot him near 9th and Grovers avenues.
He’s still in critical condition – fighting for his life after a lacerated kidney injury.
Police arrested these men:
Charles Harris, 19; Troy Brunetti, 18; Larry Scott, 19; and Austin Olson, 21.
Police brought them down to the headquarters and interviewed them, and they fessed up.
Officers said the men admitted to their involvement, saying they were “looking for homeless people to shoot” and “looking for people to rob and vehicles to steal.”
Police said they went on to admit that several people had been shot and they had shot up residential structures and vehicles.
Here’s a breakdown of which suspects admitted to playing which roles during the attacks:
Brunetti told police he brought the pellet gun and held a man at gunpoint in his car.
Harris fessed up to shooting the woman at the McDonald’s. He said it happened after she approached the car when they started to harass her.
He also said he took the gun from Brunetti, who was holding the man in his car at gunpoint. He admitted he tried to aim for his head when the victim tried to drive away.
According to police, Olson admitted to being the driver during most of the crime spree.
Police also said Scott said he only fired the gun one time and did not shoot at a person, but a person’s house.
They also said the four suspects all gave different stories about who shot the boy.
ABC15 interviewed friends of Leanne Holum, the woman who was murdered. They said she had recently fallen on hard times and was both a proud mom to two young girls and a great friend.
“She had such big heart, so I feel like this is just so unfortunate,” said Bethany Fridge, who said they had worked together several years ago.
“[She had a] beautiful smile, infectious laughter, she…was very relatable with anyone,” Fridge said.
Fridge couldn’t believe the news, she said.
“I’m in disbelief that someone would do something so careless,” she said. “In a time where, we as a human race should be coming together.”
“I’m sorry to the family, to the loved ones, her children who have to go through life knowing that their mom was taken too soon by, I’m sorry to call them, idiots,” Fridge said. “Idiots.”
Turns out the suspects didn’t all have a clean past.
Harris was released from the Arizona Department of Corrections less than two weeks prior, and Brunetti, 18, recently spent time in juvenile corrections.
Charli Luna claims he lives with Brunetti and said to the media that it “doesn’t add up”.
“A woman was killed, this is not ok,” said Charli Luna. “Yet, I don’t really believe that Troy had meant to do any of this or even get involved in any of this.”
Luna also told media outlets that Brunetti was off his medication.
“I think there’s more to the story than we know,” Luna said.
Leanne Holum’s family released the following statement:
“Leanne Holum was a mother, a daughter, a cousin, a niece and a friend. She was stubborn, loud, funny and fearless. She loved her two beautiful daughters and wanted nothing more than to be a good Mom. She made bad choices but was not a bad person.
The reckless actions of the 4 young men on April 29 that thought harassing those less fortunate has changed the lives of our family forever. We are devastated by the loss of Leanne.”
The four suspects are now in jail, facing multiple charges including first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, aggravated assault and attempted robbery.
We also learned today about the latest on the case surrounding a man in Frederick, Maryland who was also seemingly killed in a random attack.
On September 20, 2019, 59-year-old John Marvin Weed was allegedly murdered by two brothers after he refused to give them $1. Now it appears they are going to get off easy, police sources tell Law Enforcement Today.
Police said they tag teamed him and knocked him out with a sucker punch, before spitting on him while he laid on the ground dying. The details and the graphic video can be found below.
On Wednesday, a 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the attack.
The state wanted the brothers tried as adults. But the teen, whose name has not been released, was tried as a juvenile instead.
According to WDVM, the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office said the 15-year-old delivered the fatal blow.
Last year, Frederick News Post also reported the 15-year-old delivered the final blow.
Initial comments on social media suggested that the victim may have used a racial slur prior to the incident. But the state’s attorney’s office said none of the witnesses, no one in Weed’s family and neither of the teens said anything about the incident being motived by race.
Judge Solt reportedly decided that the alleged killer would be tried as a juvenile, and also ruled the 16-year-old must be tried as a juvenile, the Frederick News Post reported earlier this week.
The Post reported that Circuit Judge William R. Nicklas Jr. on Tuesday denied a motion to try the 15-year-old as an adult.
“Obviously, it wasn’t what we wanted or the outcome that we argued for, but I’d be remiss in not praising prosecutors Rebecca Clinton and Laura Wilt for their hard work in this case.
…[Judge Nicklas] did give us a written legal opinion on why he believed the 15-year-old should remain in the juvenile system, but unfortunately, due to the case being sealed, I cannot comment on what his arguments are or go into any further detail,” Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said.
Late last year, investigators in Fredrick County released graphic footage showing the result of the incident.
Police say the altercation may have started over a single dollar bill.
The incident began when 59-year-old John Weed was approached by two teens, 15 and 16-year-old brothers, who asked Weed for a dollar, according to a report from CBS 13 Baltimore.
But when he refused to give it up, they started following him around the fairgrounds and harassed him, investigators say. At one point, Weed said something to the two teens, reportedly increasing the tension between them.
“There was some sort of dialogue that ensued after that that made it a negative situation,” said Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith.
Then, with his back turned, Weed was struck in the back of the head by the 16-year-old boy. As he was stunned, the younger brother stepped in, Smith said.
“There was a number of minutes that elapsed after that at which point in time…the younger 15-year-old came flying through, lands a deadly blow to the victim.”
Experts say that the second brutal blow was what killed Weed, sending him to the ground. The video (published below) captures the moment that Weed loses consciousness. Then the suspects appear to spit on their victim before walking away.
Lori Hawkins says that her brother’s death has changed their family’s lives forever.
“Our lives have been changed forever [due] to the unprovoked vicious attack these individuals inflicted on my brother John Weed,” Lori Hawkins said in an interview with the Carroll County Times. “He was my rock.”
She said that the family was just trying to spend the day together.
“We just wanted to spend time together as a family at the fair, but due to this horrible act of unprovoked violence my brother is now dead,” Hawkins said. “There is no excuse for what these individuals have done.”
ABC 7 reported that Weed had been found unconscious just after 5:30 p.m. Friday in the fairgrounds. Maryland State Police responded and the man was airlifted to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, though he never regained consciousness.
Authorities say that the man was pronounced dead from his injuries on Saturday.
Police arrested the two teenagers after it was determined that they had been involved in the attack. ABC 7’s report claimed that social media was used to help identify the suspects as Snapchat videos of the attack allegedly showed it in vivid detail.
BREAKING: @FredCoSheriff has charged a 15yo + 16yo boy for the random, unprovoked attack of a 59yo man at the Great Frederick Fair.
That man died today at Shock Trauma in Baltimore.
Sources say the teens (currently in juvenile custody) may have been playing the “knockout game.” pic.twitter.com/58tI0FPeT5
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) September 22, 2019
But in court, the 15-year-old suspect’s father begged a judge to let him go, saying that while he ‘feels’ for the victim’s family, the boys didn’t mean to do what they did.
“My son is not an animal,” he said. “He’s never been in trouble. He made a mistake.”
Photos from the scene showed more than 20 uniformed members of law enforcement at the fairgrounds with the teens being led away in handcuffs.
The 15-year-old suspect was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.
The 16-year-old is charged with second-degree assault, but investigators say that more charges may be added to the list after the results of the medical examiner’s report are provided.
Police say those charges could include manslaughter or potentially even murder.
“Both juveniles have been placed in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Services pending a hearing with a Circuit Court Judge,” a press release from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office read. “No weapons were used or mentioned in this incident.”
Statement from the family of 59yo John Weed:
“Our lives have been changed forever do to the unprovoked vicious attack these individuals inflicted on my brother John Weed. He was my rock…There is no excuse for what these individuals have done.” https://t.co/H4OqCm7DsJ— Cory Smith (@CoryNBC) September 25, 2019
The sheriff said that the video paints the picture of the boys’ true nature.
“It tells me a lot about how these young people view this person by the very fact after they had him on the ground they taunted and they spit on him,” Sheriff Jenkins said. “That to me shows hatred and disgust and despise.”
Despite what the suspects’ family says, Jenkins says the two teenagers deserve the maximum penalty.
“They made an adult decision by doing what they did, and ended up with a man losing his life,” he said.
ABC 7 reportedly visited the apartment complex where the teenage boys live. They overheard people discussing the case, saying that the charges were unfounded and that the main aggressor had simply been defending his brother.
“He was only trying to protect his brother,” a man reportedly stated. “This is ridiculous.”
The video of the attack taken via cellphone video can be seen below. Viewer discretion is strongly advised due to the graphic nature of the images.
Early reports had suggested that there had been a potential shooting or stabbing within the fairgrounds, but those rumors were quickly negated on social media.
“The Great Frederick Fair’s number one priority is the safety and security of our guests,” a Facebook post from the fair’s page read.
“To dispel rumors of the events of last night, while there was an assault, there was NO shooting and NO stabbing. The team of security and law enforcement was able to respond rapidly to control and contain the incident.
The investigation into this incident remains active and any further information regarding the assault will be released from the Sheriff’s Office.”
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