The Scottsdale Police Department is promising to beef up its presence along downtown’s Craftsman Court after the second shooting in four months left local residents and business owners shaken.
The most recent shooting took place near 3rd Avenue and Craftsman Court at around 11 p.m. July 10, according to Commander Bruce Cioli, who joined Police Chief Jeff Walther and other department higher-ups at a meeting with concerned community members on July 16.
Cioli said the shooting involved individuals driving three Dodge Charger vehicles.
Police believe individuals from two of the vehicles were in the area when the driver of the third drove up and opened fire in a hail of bullets, including several that left pock marks in outside walls of nearby businesses.
“This is not a random shooting…This is not someone that’s just going around spraying,” Cioli said. “Our victims of the shooting were probably targeted and they were targeted because of some things that they did at some point prior to this night.”
“I don’t know when,” he added. “That’s one of the things I’ve been looking at.”
Police recovered two guns and around 40 shell casings at the scene, Cioli said.
A rumor that one or more of the perpetrators used automatic weapons during the incident has swirled among locals, but a Scottsdale Police spokesman would not confirm or deny that report.
“Bullet casings of pistol and rifle ammo were found,” Sergeant Kevin Quon said.
Quon said the department has made one arrest in connection with the shooting.
At the meeting with community members July 16, Cioli confirmed that one person police believed to be involved in the incident self-reported to HonorHealth Osborn with shrapnel injuries.
He said Scottsdale Police have made one arrest, though not in direct connection with the shooting. The department arrested one of the men believed to be a victim of the shooting on suspicion of theft of a means of transportation.
“Now when I say he was involved in the shooting – he was there,” Cioli said. “We did not arrest him on any charge except that he was in a stolen vehicle.”
At the community meeting, department leaders said they are following up on other leads but declined to provide further information, citing the ongoing investigation.
The July 10 shooting was the second shooting in the past four months along Craftsman Court, a 0.1-mile stretch of road in downtown Scottsdale between 3rd and 5th Avenues that includes artisan furniture shops, salons, jewelry stores, art galleries, restaurants and bars.
Another shooting occurred on April 18, though details are scarce about that incident.
The public Lexis Nexis Community Crime map database shows both Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies and Scottsdale officers responded to a shooting on the street on April 18 at around 11 p.m.
In response to a public records request from the Progress, Scottsdale Police provided a heavily-redacted report on the incident. The department said the report was redacted due to an ongoing investigation.
The limited details remaining in the report showed that the department located one victim in front of Rock Bar with a gun shot wound in the chest at around 11:08 p.m. and transported him to a local hospital in life-threatening condition.
He was subsequently stabilized and is expected to recover, according to the report.
The Progress requested a copy of the police report from the Sheriff’s Department, but has not received it yet.
Scottsdale Police do not believe there is a connection between the April and June shootings.
No arrests have been made in connection with the April shooting, Quon said.
Scottsdale Police told the Craftsman Court business owners and residents that shootings are nothing new in the community.
“I saw something that discussed that essentially this is a new phenomenon, and I’ll share with you that it’s not,” Police Chief Jeff Walther said. “I started with Scottsdale Police Department 27 years ago…as a young patrol officer in the mid-90s I was responding to shots fired calls, triple homicide out in front of the Works nightclub.”
That characterization drew push back from some local business and property owners, though, who said their area is not the same as the more bar-dense Entertainment District on the other side of Scottsdale Road that has experienced issues with violence in the past.
While Craftsman Court has a handful of bars, it is also home to residences, retail shops, restaurants and artisans.
Robert Salvato is a co-owner of the BS West LGBTQ bar, which has been in the neighborhood for over a decade. “I’ve been there 13 years and we’ve never had any kind of shooting or gun violence in that area whatsoever,” he said.
Walther acknowledged that the number of rounds fired in this shooting was unique.
“Forty-plus rounds being fired in a singular incident; that is on the very high end for what we’re used to,” he said.
“It’s extremely unsettling,” said Steve Johnson, who lives and works out of a building he owns on the street.
“I don’t even go to that end of the block anymore; I just don’t want to be the next victim by an accidental, random thing,” he said.
Salvato said the recent shootings have impacted his employees.
“It’s affected our staff tremendously,” he said. “I know when cars drive by now, I know everyone’s anxiety and their adrenaline is up.”
Commander Christopher Coffee, who oversees the department’s downtown district, said more officers and resources from other districts will be reassigned to Craftsman Court.
The department also borrowed flood lights from WestWorld to use at night and increased car-to-car checks on the street to check for illicit activity.
That increased presence has been noticed by locals.
“I know the police are doing what they can,” Salvato said. “I’ve been able to witness their increase in police foot patrols and drive bys, so I am grateful for the efforts they’re doing.”
Still, issues persist.
On July 18, at least six squad cars responded to a reported disturbance involving a dozen people screaming in the street.
Residents and business owners told the Progress the shootings are part of a larger trend that has seen more disturbances, including public intoxication and drug use, along Craftsman Court in recent months.
“It’s escalated in the past couple months,” said a resident who lives nearby and requested anonymity. “It’s gotten to the point where it’s scary to go outside on the weekends.”
Residents and local businesses owners pin some of the blame on Loyalty Restaurant and Lounge, the latest club to take over the space near 3rd Avenue and Craftsman Court that housed Old Town Gringos for years.
Several business owners alleged that Loyalty patrons drink or use drugs and party in the streets or nearby parking lots before going into or after leaving the club.
“We’re talking all the way up and down (Craftsman Court) and all the way down (5th Avenue) and it’s like street parties,” Salvato said.
He said there’s also been an increase in vehicle traffic in the alley near the bar frequented by pedestrians, staff and customers.
“Our biggest concerns now are the cars that go speeding down the alleyway,” Salvato said. “You know that that used to be such an easy safe walk from the parking garage.”
Loyalty Lounge owner June Durr told the Progress that this is the first time she had allegations of drug use by patrons.
“No real comment those are allegations not facts we cannot control what patrons do on the street we have not witnessed any drug use,” she wrote in an email.
She also said she had no knowledge of who participated in the shooting, noting “the recent shooting was on 3rd street and unfortunately we do not know any of the involved parties.”
Quon said the investigation has not found a connection between Loyalty Lounge and the shooting.
However, Det. Christian Bailey, the department’s liquor detective, said police have “active investigations going into that bar and all of their operations between us and a partnership with the (Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control).”
A spokesman for the Liquor Department declined comment. “The Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (DLLC) does not comment on pending investigations,” spokesman Raul Garcia said.
Walther told the community members that the department is looking at proposed tweaks to the city’s public safety plan ordinance to potentially address issues with bar and nightclub operations.
That ordinance – which applies to most bars and venues with live entertainment – was passed by City Council in 2013 after a bouncer at the since-shuttered Martini Ranch was stabbed and killed in the second stabbing incident there that year.
It requires all venues to submit public safety plans to the department for approval, submit to mandatory training for security personnel and other regulations.
“We’re always looking at…is there an opportunity for us to make some little tweaks to the public safety plan ordinance, which really dictates how we respond and how we enforce laws with our bars and nightclubs.”
Department leaders also asked local businesses and property owners to install cameras on site if they have not already and share that footage with police when suspected crimes occur in the area.