Random drive-by shootings hit homes, cars, and wells in Tonopah community

TONOPAH, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A rural community along Salome Highway in Tonopah is on edge. A series of shootings into homes and cars has the people living there looking over their shoulders. The suspect or suspects are still out there.

As people on the street were winding down before bed Friday, their homes, cars and wells were riddled with bullets. The worst part, most of them didn’t hear a thing.

Now the community is frantically searching for answers so this doesn’t happen again. “It’s scary. My children’s bedrooms are right there,” said one Tonopah woman who was too afraid to appear on camera. She says she hasn’t felt safe since last week. “About 6:30 Friday night, I went to give my kids a bath before bed and we had no water. So I was like, oh, that’s weird,” she said.

She went outside to check on her well water system and was horrified by what she saw. “I heard water exploding and all the pumps on our property had been shot seven-plus times,” she said.

After calling the police, she posted on the community’s Facebook page and quickly realized she wasn’t alone. “Throughout the night, more and more people started commenting that cars had been shot, homes had been shot through, other people’s wells,” she said.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there were at least three separate shootings Friday. “It’s just frustrating. You want to be able to go to bed at night without worrying about a bullet going through the wall,” a man said.

The man, who also wishes to remain anonymous, says the situation is a ticking time bomb. “That’s pretty much the big worry. Property is one thing but one of these days that bullet is gonna come through and hit somebody,” he said.

As Arizona’s Family drove along Salome Highway between 339th to 361st avenues, we could see homes hit by bullets. “We heard absolutely nothing. That’s the scary part. Do they have a silencer on their gun?” said the woman.

MCSO says they are investigating. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Right now, they believe all the bullets were fired from the same vehicle driving along this road. They have limited information and encourage people who have seen something to come forward.

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