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ABC15 confirms ID of person of interest in Phoenix serial street shootings

Posted at 4:46 PM, Apr 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-25 13:10:22-04

**UPDATE: Are Phoenix freeway, serial street shootings connected? ABC15 confirms gun link**

A man arrested last week in a 2015 homicide has been identified as a person of interest in the Phoenix serial street shootings case, multiple sources confirm to ABC15

RELATED: Full coverage of Phoenix serial street shootings

Aaron Saucedo is being questioned in connection with the spree of shootings that happened between March and July 2016, which left seven people dead and two injured.

No one has officially been arrested in the street shootings case, and when asked for a comment on Friday, Phoenix police said they are still looking for tips from the public.

The first shooting was reported on March 17, 2016, after a driver in a Nissan drove past two teenagers and shot a 16-year-old boy in the arm, abdomen and hip. The teen survived the shooting.

The most recent incident happened on July 11, 2016. According to authorities, a 21-year-old man and his 4-year-old nephew escaped uninjured after they were shot at while sitting in a vehicle. The suspect fled the scene in an early 1990s black BMW sedan after opening fire at the pair.

The 21-year-old told ABC15 on Monday that Phoenix police investigators contacted him last week, showing him a photo lineup that included Saucedo's picture. The victim says seeing the photo "gave him chills."

Residents who live in Saucedo's Phoenix neighborhood told ABC15 the 23-year-old drives an older-model black BMW -- potentially matching the description of the suspect vehicle -- which was towed from Saucedo's home last week.

Saucedo was taken into custody on Wednesday for the murder of 61-year-old Raul Romero -- a case not currently tied to the serial street shootings.

On August 16, 2015, Romero was shot multiple times in the driveway of his home, near 7th Street and Bethany Home Road, and died shortly after at a hospital.

There were no witnesses to the shooting itself, but police were able to locate the murder weapon, and determined casings at the scene were from a gun Saucedo had sold to a Phoenix pawn shop.

Saucedo is being held on a $750,000 cash bond on first-degree murder charges in connection with Romero's death.