The Arizona Republic
Ariz. corrections officer fatally shot in carjacking
BUCKEYE, Ariz. — Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with what Buckeye officials called the “senseless” murder of a Department of Corrections officer on a trip back from Wal-Mart.
The 15- and 16-year-old Buckeye residents were arrested Wednesday night and could face charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery, Buckeye police said in a news conference Thursday. The suspects’ names weren’t released because they’re minors.
Bradley Jay Gerrard, 28, of Buckeye, was shot at close range late Oct. 18 on Tartesso Boulevard after an apparent carjacking blocks from his Tartesso home, police said.
Gerrard had been driving westbound along Tartesso Boulevard, and was stopped at the stop sign at Bruner Road when the two teens approached him, police said. Passing drivers later found Gerrard dead on the median. Police found his burned car several miles away.
Exactly what happened that night and the suspects’ motives are under investigation. Police don’t believe there’s a connection between the slaying and Gerrard’s work with the Department of Corrections.
Using DOC K-9 units, police located a gun with the characteristics of the murder weapon and other physical evidence within a mile from the crime scene. Three Bloodhounds worked for hours to track the scent from the crime scene to the evidence.
“It was a phenomenal track,” said Sgt. Luis Matos, a DOC K-9 handler.
Gerrard had been a DOC officer since 2004, assigned to the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis near Buckeye. On the night of his death, he was on his way home from Wal-Mart, where he picked up an air mattress for a visiting relative, police said. He leaves behind a 2-year-old son and wife, who is eight weeks pregnant.
Buckeye interim police Chief Mark Mann called Gerrard’s death a tragedy.
“He has left a void in our community that we will struggle to fill,” Mann said.
A memorial services was held Wednesday night. The family was en route to Utah to bury Gerrard on Thursday, said DOC Director Dora Schriro, who was “stunned” by the murder.
Schirro said she was proud of her department and Buckeye police for being “on their way to closing the case” only days after Gerrard’s death.
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