27th Avenue Safety Corridor Project is in the works as area sees two deadly shootings

Glaring problems hit close to those living along 27th Avenue Tuesday and Wednesday. Back-to-back deadly shootings happened just blocks a part.

The first happened Tuesday near 31st Avenue and Northern, where a man was shot and killed.

The second, a teenage boy was found lying in the road with gunshot wounds Wednesday morning near 27th and Northern avenues.

He died at the hospital, and two others were seriously hurt with gunshot wounds: A man and another teenage boy. Phoenix Police believe all three victims in Wednesday’s shooting are connected.

“It’s my first and only home I’ve ever lived in. Other than living at home with my mom and dad,” Jeff Spellman laughs. “It’s been home here for almost 40 years for me.”

Spellman can’t imagine living anywhere else in Arizona.

“Why run away? You know, you can find these problems anywhere in this city. Sometimes they’re not quite as obvious as they are here along 27th Avenue,” Spellman says.

Jonathan Lucero, Manager at 4Js Auto Repair agrees. “We’re just a small business here that’s trying to survive. And the area is kind of getting kind of bad lately,” Lucero says.

The City of Phoenix is aware of the violent crime at 27th and Northern avenues, which is how the 27th Avenue Corridor Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan was created. It was passed February 16, 2022.

Betty Guardado, a District 5 Phoenix city councilwoman spoke about the problems during a February 2022 meeting.

“We heard from mothers whose children again walk to school and are trying to walk home from school and have to walk back into school and talk about how they’re being solicited for sex work,” Guardado said.

A City of Phoenix spokesperson tells ABC15 most staffing for the plan is complete. However, the city is still waiting for gunshot detection systems, mobile license plate readers and mobile camera units.

The city says the full implementation of the 27th Avenue Corridor should be ready to go by Fall 2022.

Overall, the plan costs just over $4 million in the first year and $1 million every year after.

“It can’t get here fast enough for the things like this we’re seeing on 27th Avenue,” Spellman says.

As for Tuesday and Wednesday’s deadly shootings, police haven’t released any suspect information or motives.