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Peoria and Surprise police officers talk about a complex investigation involving 13 victims, four who were shot, in eight separate incidents on June 17, 2021.

Arizona Republic

Peoria police on Tuesday said they linked a man accused of killing one person and injuring several others during a shooting spree in the West Valley last week to two additional gun-related crimes occurring days earlier. 

Police said 19-year-old Ashin Scott Tricarico, of Surprise, was suspected of injuring 12 people and killing one in a shooting spree on June 17 while driving a white Volkswagen SUV around the West Valley for an hour and a half, according to court records.

In the days before the shooting spree, Tricarico was believed to have pointed a gun at a woman in a vehicle in Peoria on June 10, Peoria police announced in a news release Tuesday evening. Six days later, Tricarico was believed to have shot at a man in a vehicle in Peoria, the news release said. 

Neither was injured nor were the vehicles damaged, according to the news release.

It’s unclear how police connected Tricarico to the alleged crimes or if he will face any additional charges. 

Authorities continued to investigate the incidents surrounding Tricarico, which spanned multiple crime scenes and involved multiple police agencies, including those in Glendale and Surprise. Peoria police previously stated Tricarico’s motive for the alleged shooting spree on June 17 was unknown. 

Upon being questioned about the shooting spree, Tricarico claimed people were after him following a May 5 incident in which Tricarico as a security guard shot a man at a Phoenix sports bar, according to court records. He told police he saw people pointing guns at him wherever he went. 

Peoria police Tuesday said the June 17 shooting spree began just after 11 a.m. when a woman and a 3-year-old child in a vehicle were shot at in Peoria. The 23-year-old woman was injured from shrapnel, police said. 

Nearly 20 minutes later, 67-year-old David Liebler died from a gunshot wound while inside a vehicle near Loop 101 and Thunderbird Road, Peoria police said.

Within the hour, Tricarico shot at 10 more people. 

Another man in a vehicle was injured from shrapnel while a 19-year-old woman in the same car suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, Peoria police said.

Another woman in a vehicle was shot at but was not injured, police said. The vehicle was damaged from gunshots.

Five more men and an 86-year-old woman in three different vehicles were also injured from shrapnel, Peoria police said.

A man walking was also injured from a gunshot wound to the arm, police said. He fired back at the suspect during the incident, according to police. 

Tricarico faces charges on suspicion of first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated assault, five counts of drive-by shooting and one count of endangerment. 

He was scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday for a status hearing, according to online court records. A preliminary hearing was set for Monday. 

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels

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