A 40-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the shooting of two workers at a Tucson Goodwill donation center, authorities said Tuesday.
Adrian William Orozco was arrested about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday when robbery detectives and the SWAT Team descended on North First Avenue and East Grant Road, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.
Orozco was arrested without incident.
Orozco was booked into the Pima County jail on suspicion of multiple felony charges, including two counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault causing serious physical injury, one count of auto theft and one count of armed robbery, the release said.
The arrest comes the day after family members of one of the victims, Juan Cristóbal Flores, held a news conference to plead for anyone with information to come forward.
At Monday's news conference, Flores's mother, Alma Flores, recounted the phone call she received from police last Friday telling her her son had been shot while working at Goodwill in the 7600 block of East Valencia Road, near South Los Reales Road.
The aspiring classical music vocalist was critically injured, and a coworker was seriously injured in the shooting around 9:30 a.m. Dec. 26 in what Pima County Sheriff's Sgt. David Stivers said Monday was a random act.
"I never thought I was going to be in this situation," Alma Flores said during the news conference at St. Joseph's Hospital, where her son remained in critical condition. "He was working. He was not in the bar, he was not in the street. He was working."
Juan Cristobal Flores
Juan Flores's father, Reyes Flores, said his son's condition has not improved since he was brought into the hospital with what his father described as a "cerebral injury." Family members indicated that the 30-year-old Flores, an only child, was paralyzed as a result of his injury.
"It's a very somber picture," said the senior Flores after the news conference attended by media and dozens of his son's friends and choral colleagues. "We have no room but for God's hands."
Juan Cristóbal Flores's parents, Reyes, center, and Alma Flores, speak at a news conference Monday at St. Joseph's Hospital, where their son remained in critical condition.
Stivers said investigators do believe the shooting was not a targeted event.
"There's a lot more to learn, but the violent act itself does not appear to be targeted or any reason behind it that we know of so far," he said.
There was an arrest Tuesday morning after a man and car were sought in connection with the shooting at a Tucson Goodwill donation center Friday morning that left two workers wounded, one critically and the other seriously.
Juan Flores grew up in Tucson and started music lessons in grade school, his father said.
"First grade, second grade, they used to have chorus and also where kids were taught violin and the instruments," said Flores, who calls his son by his middle name. "Cristóbal tried to study violin at the beginning, but soon, he just realized, I suppose, that voice was his vocation."
Flores said his son was in choir through high school at Tucson High Magnet before going to the University of Arizona. He majored in vocal performance and was still completing his degree.
For more than 10 years, Juan Flores has been a member of the Catalina United Methodist Church choir as part of the church's Scholar Singers program, which supports UA student musicians in their academic and vocational pursuits.
Flores also has sung with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the Arizona Opera and, since 2017, with Helios Ensemble, led by founder Benjamin Hansen.
Flores was supposed to sing a solo during Helios's spring concert in March. Hansen said that concert will now be dedicated to Flores.
"He's got so much personality and he's the gentlest soul, the kindest soul," Hansen said Monday, surrounded by a half-dozen Helios choristers. "Nobody deserves this, but he was the last person who deserves this."
At Monday's news conference, Liz Gulic, CEO of Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona, said the East Valencia Road Goodwill location is now permanently closed.
"I have been here at this Goodwill for 16 years, and I have never seen anything like this," she said, her voice breaking with emotion. "So I apologize, but this hits near and dear to our heart. As an organization, Goodwill is about helping people, and we have been at that location for 18 years and nothing (has ever happened). It's just a tragedy."
No details have been released on the second victim, at the request of her family, Gulic said.
The Flores family established a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Juan Flores's medical expenses and long-term recovery costs. You can donate at gofundme.com/f/stand-with-juan-cristobal-flores-local-opera-singer.
