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Hispanic community leaders spread awareness of Phoenix serial shooter

Posted at 7:14 PM, Aug 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-27 00:30:05-04

Phoenix police on Friday said they received more than 100 new tips in the Phoenix serial shooting case after a news conference featuring high-profile law enforcement from city, state and federal agencies.

Later that same day, Hispanic leaders said there still isn’t enough awareness about the serial murder spree among Spanish speakers.

FULL COVERAGE: Phoenix serial shootings

“The community is tired. They just want this guy caught.  And there's a lot of communication, we need to connect it, strengthen it and get it done faster,” said DeeDee Garcia Blase, with Somos Independents.

More than half of the street shooter’s victims are Hispanic, and the shooter himself has yelled at two victims in Spanish according to Phoenix police reports.

Block watch leaders and others have been canvassing Maryvale, where six of the seven people have been killed, with Spanish language wanted posters. However, they still run into lots of people who haven’t hear enough about the serial killings to help police if they do see something.

One of their suggestions for raising awareness is sending Spanish language wanted posters home with school kids in Phoenix. Garcia Blase said that would empower tens-of-thousands of parents with information to help catch the killer.

“If we could just get all the schools involved in the areas where he's targeting, I think that would be the most inexpensive way. And it’s the best way to raise public awareness, sending those bi-lingual flyers home with families,” said Garcia Blase.

She said her plan would generally require approval from individual school districts. 

Cartwright Elementary district governing board member Lydia Hernandez said she is already working on putting the plan into action for kids in her district.