Authorities: Gun tests tie suspect to freeway shootings

The judge set his bail at $1 million, but then Meritt asked if he could actually speak out to the courtroom.

“I do find that there is very sufficient probable cause regarding all these crimes”, said the judge. I tried telling the detectives that.

After identifying the type of gun using the ballistic evidence, police looked for that specific type of weapon at pawn shops and eventually came across the right gun at Mo Money Pawn in Phoenix.

“The weapon and man we believe was responsible for starting this spree is in custody”, Milstead said. It’s not clear exactly what put police on Merritt’s trail, but they tailed him Friday before arresting him around dinner time.”I think the detectives really worked this”, Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said on MSNBC on Saturday. KSL shared that two cars, a tour bus and a SUV were shot during that time. “We will continue to investigate”.

Burges McCowan, a criminal defense attorney who used to work as a Maricopa County prosecutor, said he would piece together where Merritt was during the shootings if he were handling his case.

He would not say how long the gun was at the pawn shop.

The accused Phoenix highway shooter is adamant that he is not the one who’s been targeting random cars along Interstate 10 in the Arizona city, even though authorities are pretty confident they’ve got their man.

The only person hurt in the shootings was a teenage girl cut by flying glass when the window of the auto she was in was shattered by a bullet.

“Are there others out there? Are there copycats? That is possible”.

The suspect has no connection to a man who was questioned by police about the shootings earlier in the week, Graves said.

“Today we are seeing the end results of some incredible police work”, he said.

Authorities offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case and also distributed thousands of fliers in neighborhoods along I-10 to raise awareness about the shootings and the reward, but they have been tight-lipped about any details in the case.

McDonald was at a Phoenix restaurant with his family Friday night when he heard the news that the freeway shooting suspect was arrested.

He said he has not yet spoke directly to his son since the arrest.

Les Merritt Senior says because of the arrest, his son’s Facebook videos showing him shooting targets and firing a weapon with his young son are being taken out of context.

The Wal-Mart where the suspect was arrested is 6 miles north of where some of the shootings on I-10 occurred.

The shootings have prompted several school districts to keep their buses off freeways, and some motorists have altered their commutes to avoid driving I-10. One of the shootings involving bullets was preceded by a “road rage” incident, police said. “If it calms down for a while, I’ll get back on”.

Authorities had been monitoring pawn shops that had bought or loaned a firearm that matched the make of any of the guns used on the freeway, Graves said.