The Latest on the killing of four people in Phoenix (all times local):
4 p.m.
Police have identified the 30-year-old Phoenix man arrested in the killings of his wife, two of their young children and a man he apparently thought was romantically involved with his wife.
Sgt. Tommy Thompson said Friday that Austin Smith was booked on suspicion of four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault.
Smith was arrested Thursday evening after officers responding to a shooting at an apartment found the body of 46-year-old Ron Freeman. Two other people were wounded there.
Officers who went to Smith’s home later Thursday found his wife, 29-year-old Dasia Patterson, and their 5-year-old daughter, Nasha Smith, dead from gunshot wounds. Their 7-year-old daughter, Mayan Smith, died from apparent blunt-force trauma, and the couple’s 3-year-old daughter was uninjured.
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10:15 a.m.
Phoenix police say a man has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife, his two young daughters and a man who the suspect thought was romantically involved with his wife.
Sgt. Tommy Thompson said Friday that authorities found the daughters ages 5 and 7 dead at the family’s home Thursday night. A 3-year-old daughter was unharmed.
Thompson says the suspect was arrested while driving away from an apartment complex where the man had been shot dead and two others were shot and wounded.
The suspect and the victims were not identified.
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This version corrects the name of the officer in the 3rd paragraph, Thompson not Thomson.
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7:20 a.m.
Phoenix police say one person was killed and two others wounded in near-simultaneous shootings in an apartment complex and that police quickly detained one person as a possible suspect.
Police said officers responding to one shooting Thursday night heard gunshots in the area and found some of the victims during a search.
According to police, the possible suspect was taken into custody during a traffic stop shortly after the shootings occurred and a vehicle was seen leaving the area.
The dead person was described as a man and those wounded as a man and a woman, and Detective Luis Samudio said it wasn’t immediately known whether the possible suspect knew the victims.
Details of the circumstances of the incident weren’t immediately available and no identities were released.
