A man that stared death in the face is now talking for the first time after surviving an attack by the Phoenix serial street shooter.
Only four people targeted by the killer have lived to tell about it. The victim from an attack near 32nd and Oak streets is the only one to speak publicly so far.
A Phoenix police report released on Monday confirms the victim pulled up to a stop sign around 5:30 p.m. on July 11. The shooter, driving a black BMW, pulled up from the opposite direction and stopped beside the victim with their driver’s side windows facing each other.
The 22-year-old victim and his 4-year-old nephew were inside the victim’s car when the killer opened fire.
“Either both of us should have been dead or one of us should have been dead," the anonymous victim said. "Or, one of us at least should have been injured, but we both walked away."
The victim said he locked eyes with the shooter before the bullets started flying.
“My windows were down and his windows were down. That's when he, kind of, really looked at me, like, stuck his head out towards me; you know, like, ‘I’m looking at you,”’ the victim said.
According to the victim, he had started rolling forward from the stop sign when the bullets started slamming into his car.
“We were still really close," he said. "I was able to see the barrel of the gun from face to face, at point-blank range."
The attack marks a notable departure from the serial street shooters normal M.O. In the other eight serial attacks, victims are either parked in front of a house or standing near their car (one of the incident’s involved an unoccupied car shot several times).
Targeting a moving car paints a whole new picture for police.
“This suspect does not have a code right now that he's targeting a particular person or type of behavior right now,” Sgt. Jonathan Howard, spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department, said.
This victim said the most terrifying part of the encounter may have been the shooter’s calm, uncaring look as he opened fire.
“His face was basically naked. He didn't care if I saw him or if I would identify him,” he said.
Seven deaths have been attributed to the serial street shooter across nine total attacks dating back to March.
