Shocking surveillance footage showing multiple people fleeing from a house party where University of Arizona sophomore Erin Jones was shot and killed and three others were injured, was shown Tuesday at a news conference in which Tucson police pleaded for investigative tips in the case.
A hail of gunfire can be heard on the video clip taken on April 28. It was released by police who said they hope someone will recognize the people fleeing from the area. Police were clear to say the young people in the video are solely considered victims and potential witnesses in the case.
Capt. Doug Foster, of the Tucson Police Department, leads a news conference Tuesday asking the community to share any information they might have about a shooting at a house party last month in which Erin Jones, 20, a University of Arizona student, was killed and three other people were wounded.
Capt. Doug Foster, who overseas TPDβs criminal investigations, said that of the more than 200 people were at the party, but only 25 stayed at the scene to talk with police. Over the following weeks, officers combed the mile-long crime scene, Foster said. They interviewed about 140 partygoers who left the scene before police arrived, and interviewed more than 50 911 callers.
According to Foster, the shooting lasted more than six-and-a-half minutes. Police recovered more than 80 bullet casings over an area that stretched for more than a mile from the house in the 3200 block of East Fifth Street, east of North Country Club Road
βIt was a chaotic, harrowing, frightening situation that no one should have to endure,β Foster said. β... many students were impacted by this.β
Jones didnβt appear to be a target in this case, she was just at a party and ended up a victim of senseless gun crime, Foster said.
βIβm confident that people out in the community know who the shooters are,β Foster said, encouraging the public to come forward with even the smallest bit of information. There is currently a $2,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the killing.
Foster said heβs heard about studentsβ reluctance to come forward with fears of repercussion for underage drinking or that it could affect their standing as a UA student or affect scholarships. To that, Foster said donβt worry.
βThatβs the least of our concerns,β Foster said. βWe need to know what happened here and who was involved.β
Tucson police said the party was advertised on social media as a βfootball partyβ. The home had been rented by U of A football players, Foster said.
At some point, there was a disagreement that occurred between someone and the shooters, perhaps over being charged to enter the party, Foster said.
The viral nature of these party shootings is that people who shouldnβt be invited hear about these gatherings and show up regardless, Foster said.
He said the last recent case that was investigated with such vigor was the disappearance of Isabel Celis, who was abducted from her familyβs midtown home. The man who killed Celis and another Tucson girl was recently convicted and sentenced in her death.
βWe have a community that will help break this case,β Foster said.
But as graduation hits, and school days turn into summer days, parties will seem impossible to avoid. Foster said extra patrols will be seen out and about as families and friends celebrate the end of the school year.
In the meantime, bullets have been sent to ballistics for testing and interviews continue to be conducted into Joneβs death.
βWeβre absolutely putting all our resources into this case,β Foster said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact TPD detectives directly at 520-882-7463 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tips line which also can be reached online at www.88crime.org. There’s also the P3TIPS free app download.
The shooting shook the UA campus, with UA President Robert C. Robbins, calling the death of Jones a tragic loss in a letter to students, faculty and staff.
βOur deepest sympathies go out to Erinβs family in California and across the country, her friends, and her classmates in Tucson and Newport Beach, who are absorbing the heartbreaking news today,β Robbins wrote hours after news of the shooting spread.
