Suspected US serial killer arrested

A suspected gunman who terrorised a US city last year with a series of seemingly random shootings has been arrested, police said.

A tip-off led investigators to Aaron Saucedo, 23, and detectives were able to link him to the string of attacks in Phoenix, Arizona, by analysing surveillance video, witness statements and ballistics evidence -- including a handgun he pawned, NBC News quoted the police as saying on Monday.

"Today (Monday) is a good day in the city of Phoenix...They had a clear mission, bring this killer to justice and get it right," said Mayor Greg Stanton, praising the law enforcement task force that hunted the shooter for nearly a year.

Aaron Saucedo, initially arrested on April 19 for a fatal shooting in 2015, was re-booked on Monday into a Maricopa county jail and is now facing 26 charges for a total of 12 shootings, reports USA Today.

Saucedo's targets included men, women and children, many of them ambushed near their homes in a working class neighbourhood from August 2015 to July 2016.

A woman and her 12-year-old daughter were shot dead in one incident; a man and his four-year-old nephew escaped unhurt in another, reports NBC News.

However, the police has not identified a motive behind the shootings.

--IANS

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