PHOENIX, ARIZONA – A man who targeted pedestrians and vehicles throughout the Phoenix metro area a few weeks ago told police he believed people were after him in the wake of a separate shooting that he was involved in last month.
Ashin Tricarico, 19, of Surprise, Arizona, was charged Friday with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, drive-by shooting and endangerment in connection with the shootings, which left one person dead and a dozen others injured. Police say that there may be additional charges based on the investigation. He is currently being held on $1 million bond, according to jail records.
In the May 5th incident, he was working as a licensed armed security guard. In a Phoenix Police Department statement, they said that Tricarico “was asked to deal with a male customer who was reportedly intoxicated and causing a disturbance.” Tricarico he went outside to call 911 and was allegedly charged by the customer. Tricarico then allegedly fired one shot at the man which resulted in a non-life-threatening injury. The aggravated assault case is still under investigation, and Tricarico stated to investigators that he shot in self-defense.
Police have not yet identified a motive in the complex case that unfolded Thursday morning, which involved at least eight different shooting incidents over the course of an hour-and-a-half. The scenes stretched throughout the West Valley, according to the Peoria Police Department, which is leading the investigation.
The victims ranged in age from a 56-year-old man who was fatally shot to a 19-year-old. Three other victims suffered gunshot wounds, with others injured by broken glass from bullet shattered windows.
The probable cause document states that during an interview with detectives, Tricarico indicated he believed people were following him around after being involved in the Phoenix shooting. “Ashin thinks every vehicle and person he drives past is pointing a gun at him,” the court documents stated.
During the interview with detectives after his arrest, Tricarico allegedly admitted to committing some of Thursday’s shootings, claiming that he was shot at or had a gun pointed at him during them.
He stated that an “unknown male” pointed a gun at him at a car wash Thursday morning. He then allegedly bought ammunition for his AR-15-style rifle, according to the court documents. He allegedly stared down a person outside a Circle K convenience store and then exchanged words with him before following him in his car and shooting at the victim, according to the documents.
He allegedly told police that in one of the shooting incidents, a pedestrian shot at him “so he shot back,” and in a second incident, a man in a car pointed a handgun at him “so he shot back at him.”
When interviewers informed Tricarico that he had killed a man, he requested an attorney and ended the interview, the court documents stated. An AR-15 rifle and two magazines were recovered from his car by police, and multiple .223-caliber shell casings were found from the crime scenes, according to court documents.
