MESA — Mesa police are searching parts of Riverview Park for the gun used in a shooting at a BoSa Donuts location on April 2.
The shooting happened around 3:30 a.m. at the BoSa Donuts near Dobson Road and Rio Salado Parkway.
“Our goal is to locate the weapon, that’s the most important thing,” said Detective Richard Encinas with the Mesa Police Department.
Two weeks ago, police took 30-year-old Donald Williams into custody.
They said he was responsible for the shooting that injured a DoorDash Driver and Carlene Polacca’s 22-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, who was an employee at the shop.
Polacca told ABC15 her daughter is left with life-changing injuries.
“My daughter is paralyzed from the neck down,” said Polacca. “She can’t move... she has spinal injuries.”
Police said the night Williams was arrested, he told detectives he dumped the gun in a nearby pond across the street.
“That night as soon as we had that information, we began to search for that weapon as a piece of our puzzle to put this case together,” Encinas said.
People who frequent the park have been seeing the dive teams and squad cars.
Police say officers are monitoring the water as crews continue their search.
Some like Christina Popow have noticed the water receding.
“It was taped off for a while, and I’ve seen the cops here for some time,” said Popow. “But I’ve been wondering what’s going on.”
Mesa police said they are draining and recollecting some of the water to help make the search easier.
Even with less water, the search is still tedious and comes with challenges.
“You can’t see two inches in from of you when the diver is submerged in the water,” said Det. Encinas. “So they have been literally going by hand, gridding, doing a grid search because the water is so murky.”
But Mesa Police aren’t giving up. The department is getting help from multiple agencies as they search for the gun.
“We feel it's an important thing to eventually bring, hopefully, justice to the two families that were involved in this,” said Encinas.
The BoSa Donuts involved in the shooting opened back up on April 7. The location has changed its hours, and is now open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
