PEORIA, Ariz. — Peoria police have released body camera footage linked to their investigation into a spree shooting last year that terrorized the West Valley.
Video from June 2021 showed police officers responding to multiple scenes after Ashin Tricarico allegedly killed a man and victimized 14 others by either shooting at them or pointing a gun at them.
In an interview with investigators following his arrest, the then 19-year-old suspect said he felt like the devil was following him.
“I just feel like the devil is after me because I’m trying to serve God," Tricarico said. “I got tired of it and I had seen the same people with guns pointed at me.”
Shooting spree timeline
Police said the crime spree began on the night of June 16 in a gas station parking lot. A man said Tricarico pointed his AR-15 rifle at him. The victim then followed Tricarico as he called 911 and said he was on the phone with police when Tricarico fired.
The next morning, after surveillance footage showed Tricarico purchasing ammunition at Cabela's, the spree continued.
A woman was driving when she heard three gunshots then felt pain in her arm, stomach and head. She realized she had been shot. She was later treated at the hospital then released.
Next, a witness called 911 after seeing Tricarico's vehicle on the Loop 101 near Thunderbird in Peoria. He reported hearing a pop then seeing a red pickup truck veer off the road. Hours later, officials found the vehicle and the driver, David Liebler, dead.
Body camera footage then shows a woman whose rearview windshield was shot.
Around 11:39 a.m., two more victims were shot nearby. A man and his adult daughter were in a vehicle when a bullet entered the driver's door and hit the daughter in her leg. Then, shrapnel struck the man. They suffered minor injuries and were released from the hospital according to police.
Around 11:45 a.m., Surprise police reported two more shootings. A man was walking on the sidewalk when Tricarico began shooting at him from his vehicle. That man, who thankfully was not hit, had a gun himself and returned fire.
Surprise PD said another man was driving when Tricarico fired several rounds at his vehicle. That victim was hit in the head with shrapnel and was bleeding heavily.
Another shooting was also reported by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office minutes later. They said three victims were in a van which was shot at. A bullet passed through the vehicle from the driver's side to the passenger side.
At noon, the Department of Public Safety received reports about another shooting. Three more victims were in a vehicle that was struck while driving southbound on the Loop 303. Glass shrapnel injured two of the three people in the car.
Shortly after, a Surprise fire crew located Tricarico's vehicle. Police arrested him in a parking lot and found his AR-15 rifle and magazines in the car.
“They pointed a gun at my face and I didn’t want my brains on the ground that’s what I felt like and I got tired of them pointing guns at me every single day," Tricarico said.
Tricarico claimed he was defending himself and said people had pointed guns or shot at him first. He said it had been happening for several days.
He admitted to firing his gun in two instances but asked for an attorney when police questioned him about the victim who died.
He has since been indicted on several charges including first degree murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault and drive-by shooting.
A month before his alleged shooting spree, Tricarico was suspected of shooting a drunk customer while working as a security guard at a bar in Phoenix.
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