Oct. 23 (UPI) — Tempe, Ariz., police arrested Jeffrey Michael Kelly on Tuesday for allegedly shooting at a Democratic Party office in Tempe and leaving bags filled with white powder on political signs.
Prosecutors charged Kelly, 60, with seven felonies and three misdemeanors due to the politically motivated shootings.
Those charges include two counts of unlawful discharge, two counts of shooting at a non-residential structure, three counts of committing a terrorism act and three counts of criminal damage, Tempe police said.
Charges related to the bags of white powder have not been announced.
About a dozen investigators, including FBI agents, were at Kelly’s residence Wednesday morning and were seen taking inventory of his collection of long guns.
Kelly also is accused of hanging bags of white powder lined with razor blades on political signs that were critical of Democrats.
Phoenix first responders on Tuesday responded to a report of an unknown substance on political signs in southern Phoenix.
Local police told news media that Kelly hung “suspicious bags of white powder from several political signs lined with razor blades that he posted in Ahwatukee.”
Police did not know if the Ahwatukee incident is related to an anthrax threat at Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake’s campaign office in Phoenix later Tuesday.
Lake’s campaign received an envelope containing an unknown substance that was tested and determined to be non-hazardous, local police said.
The incident caused the temporary evacuation of the building in which Lake’s campaign office is located.
Kelly’s alleged actions against the Democratic Party office first occurred after midnight on Sept. 16 when local police found the front windows shot and damaged by what investigators said likely was a BB gun or a pellet gun.
A second shooting occurred a week later during the overnight hours of Sept. 23 when the office was empty, authorities said.
“This raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building as well as those nearby,” Tempe Police Sgt. Ryan Cook said in a news release following the second shooting incident.
The third shooting occurred on Oct. 6. No one was injured during any of the shooting incidents.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=671a387e491643c093256dd34395274b&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upi.com%2FTop_News%2FUS%2F2024%2F10%2F23%2Farizona-man-arrested-shooting-democratic-party-windows%2F3331729715724%2F&c=14850719372990807026&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-10-23 10:47:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.