House GOP mum on defund Planned Parenthood plan, hints about waiting, skipping shutdown

A horde of reporters pursued Rep. Adam Kinzinger down a basement corridor of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday night. The Illinois lawmaker had just emerged from a rare, evening, closed-door confab of the House Republican Conference on government funding and efforts to slash money for Planned Parenthood.
The scribes hoped to learn from Kinzinger what approach Republican leaders would select to avoid a political calamity when the federal government’s operating authority expires October 1.
“There is no plan,” Kinzinger declared.
Which is kind of right because, well, no one in the Republican leadership ranks has officially endorsed a plan and probably won’t for a while, even though everyone technically knows what the plan is.
For now.
Got it?
GOP leaders didn’t announce a plan in that twilight assemblage because they’re still listening to members and letting them have their say. Allowing them to voice their views and ponder consequences of perusing one legislative avenue or the other. Nobody wants to get too far out in front and commit to a plan until they absolutely have to.
That’s because the plan will be the plan -- until it isn’t the plan.
Take a look at how House Republicans championed a seven-week-old “etched-in-stone” strategy on the Iran nuclear agreement -- only to hastily backpedal just moments from initiating a procedural debate on the floor last week.
Or consider the multiple and sundry tactics GOP leaders laid out in September, 2013 to keep the government funded or deal with the debt ceiling in 2011 -- only to dash them at the last second because of a lack of political support from rank-and-file Republicans.
In the GOP’s defense, some of that is just the bi-product of trying operate Congress and advance sticky legislative issues. But is there any reason to expect why this might go any differently on funding the government? Especially with an unprecedented level of internal volatility rattling the Republican ranks?
On Friday afternoon, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, the GOP’s chief deputy whip, hustled into the House chamber for a vote series to defund Planned Parenthood for a year and impose prison time on physicians who don’t assist babies who survive amid failed abortions.
Paul Kane of The Washington Post asked McHenry: “When will we get to see the plan?” McHenry paused and just nodded.
“I can’t quote a nod,” Kane protested.
But there is a plan for the time being. Maybe McHenry’s nod was telling because at this stage, it’s all done with a wink and a nod.
House Republican leaders called those two votes for Friday to isolate the Planned Parenthood issue from an interim spending bill they hope to advance in the next week-and-a-half.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is teeing up a procedural vote on a bill next week that asserts that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. Then the Pope visits Capitol Hill to deliver an historic address to a Joint Meeting of Congress. By then, there’s only a few of days left to fund the government.
Republicans are expected to then push what’s called a “Continuing Resolution” or “CR” in Congress-ese. A CR is a stopgap spending bill to fund the government for a temporary period -- perhaps until mid-December. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., says the CR is ready to go except an end-date. But Rogers and other Republican leaders are trying to convince their members they can’t completely slash Planned Parenthood money in a CR or any other appropriations bill.
“Only about ten percent of what (Planned Parenthood gets) comes from appropriated monies,” Rogers said. “The balance of some $550 million is in an entitlement.”
Entitlements are federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Planned Parenthood receives the bulk of its funding through those payments.
That’s why Republican leaders might angle to kill the rest of the Planned Parenthood funding through a measure later this year known as a “budget reconciliation” package. “Reconciliation” is a special budgetary process that sidesteps potential Senate filibusters and requires only a simple majority, not a supermajority, to pass.
In other words, if the GOP can convince its members to go the reconciliation route, it can at least pass a bill later that would do more to defund Planned Parenthood than an appropriations bill.
Such a measure would undoubtedly trigger a veto threat from President Obama. But this gambit removes the melee from the effort to fund the government and takes a more direct legislative route toward the Planned Parenthood funding.
“We are not going to engage in exercises in futility,” said McConnell of efforts to cut Planned Parenthood money via a CR, potentially prompting a government shutdown.
Republicans are walking a fine line here. Few Republicans support Planned Parenthood. Most oppose abortion. But Planned Parenthood scores wide overall support from the public at large for the health services it provides, particularly among female voters. Stumbling into a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood is a political loser for the GOP.
“If you don't know what to do, distract them with women's health care,” posited Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat.
Politically, it may help Republican leaders to abstain from announcing the definitive approach. Put it out now and conservative talk radio would rip it to shreds. That would also amp up a simmering movement among some conservatives to try to topple House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
This interregnum serves as a political steam release. It allows those who want to lay into Boehner to have their say. It also presses Congress right up against the October 1 deadline. With the Pope coming next week, the House is scheduled to conduct virtually no legislative business until Friday. The Senate has a procedural vote Tuesday. That punts any action on government funding until the week after next -- right at the deadline.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, voted “present” Friday in the House on a bill to suspend funding for Planned Parenthood. King argued that he voted that way instead of voting “aye” because he thinks the bill didn’t truly defund Planned Parenthood. And King’s skeptical of pushing off the entire government funding debate until the following week.
“Boehner has known the Pope is coming to town for a long time,” he said. “If it’s not a tactic to bring in the Pope in the third week of September with the deck stacked to get it all done by the fourth week of September, then it’s a huge overlook.”
With the calendar pressures, is McConnell losing sleep over the approaching deadline?

“No, I’m not,” he replied emphatically. “We’re going to fund the government. Hopefully into late fall.”
But how is McConnell so confident a shutdown isn’t looming?
“I just am,” he intoned.
The majority leader’s Alfred E. Neuman “What? Me worry?” stance didn’t impress White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
“We’ve been seeking to find a way to get Republicans in Congress to accept an invitation from Democrats for months to engage in bipartisan talks on the budget,” Earnest said. “Republicans put it off for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a bipartisan budget agreement before the deadline.”
Rogers knows it’s a bear of a public relations campaign to explain to the public why Congress simply can’t defund Planned Parenthood via an appropriations bill and could use reconciliation to get at it from the entitlement side of the ledger, sometimes referred to as “mandatory” spending.
“Most people don’t have any understanding between appropriated spending and mandatory spending,” he said. “This issue is so explosive and emotional and has been so publicly discussed across the country that it is difficult to come to a conclusion.”
Even while House Republicans met Tuesday night in the Capitol basement to consider various scenarios, several GOPers relayed that some of their colleagues already carried a sense of dread. Dejection. Defeat.
The abortion and Planned Parenthood bills approved by the House weren’t going anywhere. The Senate probably can’t break a filibuster on its abortion bill Tuesday. The gig is already up. They’ll have to wait for budget reconciliation to truly cut Planned Parenthood money. And then Obama will veto that bill this fall.
“We need a president who has a similar view,” said McConnell about prospects for really slashing Planned Parenthood’s money.
And so this is the plan for now. Which, at least officially, really isn’t the plan. Until it is the plan. And then isn’t the plan.

Obama administration urged by police, GOP candidates to be more outspoken on cop killings

Obama administration officials are being urged by law enforcement and Republican presidential hopefuls to be more outspoken about police officers being targeted and shot, amid a recent series of fatal attacks. 
"This is the president's problem because he has not shown law and order to be the rule of the day," Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recent told Fox News.
He specifically pointed to the estimated 200 or more so-called "sanctuary cities" that do not enforce federal immigration law and Colorado and Washington where the Justice Department essentially does not enforce federal marijuana laws.
"And … the president says little or nothing about these issues where police officers are being hunted," Christie said. In just the past three weeks, two officers were ambushed and another was shot in a police chase, resulting in two deaths.
On Aug. 28, Texas sheriff deputy Darren Goforth was ambushed while filling up his cruiser at a suburban Houston gas station, after responding to a traffic accident. He left behind a wife and two children.
Obama called Goforth's widow two days later, offering condolences and prayers and saying the 10-year veteran was “contemptibly shot and killed," according to the White House.
"Targeting police officers is completely unacceptable -- an affront to civilized society," the president also said in a statement. "We've got to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of the wife who won't rest until the police officer she married walks through the door at the end of his shift. That comfort has been taken from Mrs. Goforth."
However, another 2016 GOP presidential candidate, firebrand Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, suggested Goforth's death was in part the result of efforts by the president and others in his administration to "vilify law enforcement."
Other administration critics argue officials were more outspoken over roughly the past 12 months when several black males died in police custody. They also argue that a lack of support following those incidents has made police more of a target.
About two weeks after Goforth's death, Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was killed by a suspect in a car chase. And later that day, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, another 2016 GOP presidential candidate, also suggested Obama needed to do more.
"He has been silent on this. And that's an outrage," Walker told CNN.
In between Goforth and Cameroon's deaths, Attorney General Loretta Lynch condemned the fatal shootings, saying, "This violence against all of us, regardless of what uniform any of us wear, has to end. … The Department of Justice stands ready to support law enforcement around this country as they continue to fight every day."
She also announced a summit later this month in Detroit with law enforcement officials on the issue of violence.
A total 30 officers have so far this year been killed while on duty by gunfire or another form of assault, according to the online Officer Down Memorial Page.
Some people argued the recent police deaths have been exaggerated and over-politicized, considering the number killed by gunfire is down by about 26 percent, compared to the FBI number of 51 killed in 2014.
However, others point out that last year’s number was an 89 percent increase compared to 2013 and that one slain officer is too many. 
An average 64 law-enforcement officers a year were intentional killed from 1980 to 2014, according to the FBI.
The debate about whether the administration has said enough essentially started in August 2014 when unarmed black teen Michael Brown died when in contact with an officer in Ferguson, Mo.
The incident sparked protests and rioting in which officers were injured and property, including businesses, was damaged or destroyed.
Within days, Obama issued a statement calling Brown’s death “heartbreaking” and said that he and first lady Michelle Obama sent their “deepest condolences.”
In the weeks after, then-Attorney General Eric Holder went to Ferguson to talk with civil right leaders and Brown’s family. He also said the Justice Department would use “all the power” it has to reform the Ferguson police department, if needed.
And in April, the death of 25-year-old black male Freddy Gray while in police custody in Baltimore sparked protests, looting and rioting, resulting in dozens of arrests, stores torched and at least 15 police officers being injured.
Police were purportedly told to stand-down during the violent protests. And six city police officers are now on trial in connection with Gray’s death, which has law enforcement officials saying officers are afraid to do their job.
Obama said there was “no excuse” for “criminals and thugs” tearing up the city. And Lynch visited Baltimore in the aftermath.
A third high-profile death of a black make while in police custody over roughly the past year also sparked anger at officers.
In July 2014, Eric Garner died in New York City after he resisted arrest for a nuisance crime and was put in a chokehold.
The deaths of Brown, Gray and Garner gave rise to the group BlackLivesMatter, which has tried to push the issue to the forefront of the 2016 presidential race.
However, the group and its affiliates were sharply criticized and accused of fueling attacks on police offices when some members chanted at the Minnesota State Fair in late-August: “Pigs in a blanket. Fry ’em like bacon.”
"Stop trying to fix the police, fix the ghetto,” Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who is black, recently told Fox News. "We don’t have any support from the political class."

Crowd at Democratic event shouts over Wasserman Schultz 'more debates'

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was heckled at an event Saturday in New Hampshire by crowd members calling for “more debates” for their party’s presidential candidates.
Crowd members shouted "more debates" and "we want debates" throughout Wasserman Schultz's remarks. Signs that spelled out "more debates" also were spotted in the crowd.
The event was the Democratic state party’s annual convention. And the incident was the latest in series in which the committee has been called on to have more than six sanctioned debates.
Critics of the debates, which begin October 3, suggest the schedule was conceived when Hillary Clinton was the clear frontrunner and by Clinton supporters who didn't think subjecting her to challengers was a good idea.
Wasserman Schultz has been criticized before, perhaps most notably by Democratic challenger Martin O’Malley. The former Maryland governor's polls numbers are in the single digits, and he needs the exposure of the debates, considering he has little campaign money and name recognition.
Wasserman Schultz has steadfastly said the committee, not her alone, has decided on the number of debates.
Clinton has said the debate scheduled is a matter for the DNC, not her, to decide. Her closest primary challenger, Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, has also called for more debates.
Clinton, O'Malley and Sanders are all scheduled to speak at the convention in Manchester, N.H.
The GOP has 11 sanctioned primary debates.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a Los Angeles Times interview published Friday that she thought her party should have more primary debates this election cycle.

Obama Cartoon

Trump doesn't challenge anti-Muslim questioner at event

If it acts like a Duck, sounds like a Duck, and walks like a Duck, then maybe it is a DUCK!

Donald Trump came under fire Friday morning for his handling of a question at a town hall about when the U.S. can "get rid" of Muslims, for failing to take issue with that premise and an assertion that President Barack Obama is Muslim.

Trump, who has shaken off several high-profile controversies that would have ended other presidential campaigns, faced an immediate backlash from advocacy groups, and members of his own party distanced themselves from the GOP front-runner. The incident recalls Trump's 2011 quest to challenge Obama on where he was born, which ended with Obama releasing his long-form birth certificate. It also follows a debate performance Wednesday that garnered mixed reviews for the billionaire businessman.

"We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims," an unidentified man who spoke at a question-and-answer town hall event in Rochester, New Hampshire asked the mogul at a rally Thursday night. "You know our current president is one. You know he's not even an American."

A seemingly bewildered Trump interrupted the man, chuckling, "We need this question. This is the first question."

"Anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us," the man, wearing a "Trump" T-shirt, continued. "That's my question: When can we get rid of them?"

"We're going to be looking at a lot of different things," Trump replied. "You know, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening. We're going to be looking at that and many other things."

The real estate mogul did not correct the questioner about his claims about Obama before moving on to another audience member.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest condemned the remarks Friday, but added "Is anybody really surprised that this happened at a Donald Trump rally?"

The audience members comments and Trump's response were quickly denounced by Democrats. Hillary Clinton, the party's front-runner for president, personally tweeted late Thursday that Trump's remarks were "just plain wrong," and followed up on it Friday morning at a press conference.

"I was appalled," Clinton said bluntly to a question from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. "Not only was it out of bounds, it was untrue. He should have from the beginning corrected that kind of rhetoric, that level of hatefulness."

Fellow Democratic hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley condemned the remarks.

Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, called the incident a sign of "a lack of moral courage."

"I don't know if Trump is using dog-whistle politics to win support in the polls, or if he genuinely believes the racist things he says. Either way, he showed a complete lack of moral courage in that clip, and he has shown once again that he completely unqualified to be President of the United States."

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz flatly called Trump a racist in a statement.

"GOP front-runner Donald Trump's racism knows no bounds. This is certainly horrendous, but unfortunately unsurprising given what we have seen already. The vile rhetoric coming from the GOP candidates is appalling," Schultz said. "(Republicans) should be ashamed, and all Republican presidential candidates must denounce Trump's comments immediately or will be tacitly agreeing with him."

READ: Chris Christie: I would have said Obama is Christian

After the event, several reporters asked Trump why he didn't challenge the questioner's assertions. Trump did not answer.

But Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, later told CNN that the candidate did not hear the question about Obama being a Muslim.

"All he heard was a question about training camps, which he said we have to look into," Lewandowski said. "The media want to make this an issue about Obama, but it's about him waging a war on Christianity."

Trump announced Friday that he would cancel his trip to South Carolina, citing "a significant business transaction."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Friday that he would not "lecture" Trump on how to respond to comments like that, but said that leaders are responsible for correcting voters on certain issues.

"I'll tell you what I would do and I wouldn't have permitted that if someone brought that up at a town hall meeting of mine. I would have said, 'No, listen. Before we answer let's clear some things up for the rest of the audience.' And I think you have an obligation as a leader to do that," Christie said on NBC's "TODAY" Friday.

RELATED: Misperceptions persist about Obama's faith, but aren't so widespread

Falsehoods persist about Obama's background

Obama, who has spoken openly about his Christian faith, was born to an American mother and Kenyan father in Hawaii. But Trump has been one of the leading skeptics of Obama's birthplace, saying he did not know where Obama was born as recently as July.

A recent CNN/ORC poll found 29% of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim, including 43% of Republicans.

Trump is not the first Republican candidate to raise eyebrows over comments involving Obama and his ethnic and religious background. In February, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker became embroiled in a brief controversy when he told The Washington Post that he didn't know if Obama was a Christian.

"I've never asked him that," Walker said. A spokeswoman later clarified that he did believe Obama was Christian, but disagreed with the media's obsession with "gotcha" questions.

And in 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain was booed after he famously told an audience member at a campaign event that Obama was a "good family man."

"He's a decent family man ... (a) citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues," McCain said then. "That's what this campaign is all about."

92 percent of Americans

The More the Established Republicans want Trump Out, the more people want him to Win.

A Morning Consult poll, released Friday, surveyed 504 registered voters who watched Wednesday’s Republican primary debate and has only good news for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina. While the poll’s sample size is small (with a 4.4% margin of error), the poll’s trend is worth noting.
In this same poll, prior to Wednesday night’s debate, Trump sat at 33% support. Dr. Ben Carson sat in second place with 17% support. Today Trump enjoys 36% support. Carson is still in second place but with just 12% support.
Trump’s lead increased from +16 points to  +24%. That’s an +8% jump.
With their shared status as outsiders, it appears as though Carson’s support went to Fiorina. Prior to the debate the former-Hewlett Packard CEO had just 3% support. She now sits in third place with 10%, only -2 points behind second place Carson.
Overall, the Republican Establishment is the Big Loser here. Non-politicians Trump, Carson and Fiorina command 58% of the vote, and that piece of the pie is only growing larger.
Rubio also enjoyed a boost from 2% to 9%. This puts the Florida Senator in 4th place. Texas Senator

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

96%

is in 5th place with 7% support. Everyone else is bunched up at 6% or below. A plurality of 29% believe Fiorina won the debate. Trump came in 2nd with 24%. Carson came in 3rd with just 7%.
Fiorina’s favorability rating jumped from 37% to 56%. Her unfavorable sits at just 28%. Carson does best on this question with a 79% favorable rating. Trump comes in 2nd with 67%. Only 30% see Trump as unfavorable.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

93%

, and John Kasich scored the worst with 38%, and 40% favorable ratings, respectively. Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Scott Walker are all tied up with a 50% favorable rating.

Republicans jockey for conservative credibility at Heritage Action for America presidential forum

GREENVILLE, S.C. –  Setting aside personality clashes for a night, the Republican Party's 2016 contest shifted to substance Friday as a slate of White House hopefuls vowed to steer the nation sharply to the right as they courted conservatives in battleground South Carolina.
They promised to eliminate federal departments that regulate education and environmental protection, called on congressional leaders to block federal funding from Planned Parenthood even if it triggers a government shutdown, and endorsed policies that reduce the number of unwed mothers.
"Just once, Republicans should nominate someone who is as committed to conservative principles as Barack Obama is committed to liberal principles," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told a crowd of thousands gathered in a South Carolina arena.
Ten candidates were featured at the event just two days after the GOP's 2016 class met for its second debate, a California faceoff that exposed deep rifts between the candidates on immigration, foreign policy and the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage. Yet the debate, like much of the early 2016 primary season, devolved at many times to a battle of personalities — with brash billionaire Donald Trump the leading antagonist.
Trump was a late scratch for Friday's presidential forum, hosted by Heritage Action for America, the political arm of a Washington-based conservative think.
Even among a friendly crowd, there were tense moments.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush triggered boos when he defended his early support for the Common Core education standards, a policy developed by state leaders in both parties that has become a target of tea party ire.
"I'm for higher standards, and Common Core standards are higher than the standards that exist," Bush said before being interrupted by boos. "If South Carolina wants to be without Common Core standards, great, just make sure the standards that you apply are higher than the ones before you had Common Core. Standards matter. Accountability matters."
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who previously supported Common Core himself, promised that he'd "take all the education money out of Washington" and send it to individual states. In addition to closing the federal education department, he called for the same shifts in federal funding for transportation, the environment, workforce development and Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor.
Walker also called for congressional Republicans to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood even if it causes a government shutdown. He suggested that Senate Republicans use the so-called "nuclear option" to bypass filibuster rules that often require 60 votes to proceed on contentious issues.
"We don't have to play by those rules," Walker said.
The event also featured retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former technology executive Carly Fiorina, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Immigration emerged as a focus for many candidates, who took turns answering questions on the main stage for roughly 20 minutes each.
Rubio, who supports a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally, criticized the government's tracking system for immigrants who come legally and then overstay visas: "America has become a hotel that checks you in and never checks you out."
Carson cited his recent proposal for a guest worker program for such immigrants to perform "work that Americans won't do." He mentioned agricultural workers.
But he avoided a question about whether those workers would have permanent legal status and be eligible for various federal benefits. "Guest workers are not eligible for anything unless we, the American people, decide" they are, he said.
Santorum, who wants to reduce legal immigration, railed against President Barack Obama's call to bring at least 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. He said that previously resettled Syrian immigrants were all Muslims and offered a direct message to the president about the incoming refugees.
"You tell us what the breakdown is of religions," Santorum declared. "There are a lot of religions that are being persecuted in Syria, and they should have a home here in the United States just like everybody else."
The event was awash in fiery rhetoric, but no candidate has struggled more with his party's conservative base than Bush.
"He could perform like Superman in the debates, but he's dead in the water with the tea party and the base generally," said tea party movement co-founder Mark Meckler. "He's the only candidate they absolutely loathe."
South Carolina's Feb. 20 primary shapes up as a critical bridge between the traditional opening states of Iowa and New Hampshire and a March 1 "Super Tuesday" that features a gaggle of Southern states, from Virginia to Texas.
Notably absent from Friday's affair was the state's senior senator and presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham, who finds himself languishing at the bottom of the polls nationally.
Graham is a strong figure politically in South Carolina, but the most conservative activists in the Republican Party view him as too moderate and too willing to negotiate with Democrats.

Arizona authorities arrest suspect in string of freeway shootings

Arizona authorities arrested a man Friday for a string of freeway shootings in Phoenix, adding that they had “forensically linked” the man’s gun to four of the 11 cars hit.
Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., 21, was arrested at a Glendale Wal-Mart at about 7 p.m., said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. Glendale is a suburb located west of Phoenix.
Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead announced the arrest at a news conference two hours after Merritt had been apprehended. Merritt hadn’t been formally charged as of early Saturday.
Milstead said the suspect was arrested in the first four shootings, which took place on Aug. 29 and 30. The agency says the suspect faces an array of charges that include criminal endangerment, assault and unlawful discharge of a firearm. Four of the shootings Merritt allegedly committed hit a tour bus, SUV and two cars on a stretch of Interstate 10 in Phoenix No one has been injured.
The Arizona Republic reported that Leslie Merritt Sr., the man’s father, was physically ill after hearing about his son’s arrest. Merritt told the Associated Press he believes his son is being used as a scapegoat by police who were desperate to make an arrest under immense pressure.
"He has way too much value for human life to even take the slightest or remotest risk of actually injuring someone," he said of his son.
Leslie Allen Merritt Jr.’s Facebook page, confirmed to the Associated Press by his father, indicated that he worked as a landscaper and was a gun enthusiast, but there wasn’t any indication as to why he might have been shooting at cars on the freeway. It wasn’t clear who was responsible for the other reported shootings.
"Are there others out there? Are there copycats? That is possible," Milstead said, adding that the investigation continues.
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who received updates about the arrest from the police department, said the arrest was made after the suspect tried to pawn the gun used in the shootings.
"We got him!" Ducey tweeted. "Great work by Arizona DPS investigators and SWAT team."
Brandon Copeland told the Associated Press he witnessed the arrest of the suspect while shopping at the Wal-Mart. He said he was struck at the military-style response as officers stormed the crowded store with semiautomatic weapons and came out with the man in handcuffs.
"My girl goes maybe we should leave, and I'm thinking we should leave. And as soon as she says that, like five, six unmarked units just rolled up with blue and reds flashing everywhere," he said.
Fox 10 Phoenix also reported police were seen impounding a dark grey Saturn from the Wal-Mart parking lot and that one other woman was in custody. However, it was unclear what she was questioned about.
Since Aug. 29, there have been 11 confirmed shootings of vehicles in the Phoenix area involving bullets or other projectiles. Most of the shootings occurred along a stretch of Interstate 10, a major route through the city. There hasn’t been a confirmed shooting since Sept. 10.
Though there have been no serious injuries, a 13-year-old girl’s ear was cut after a bullet shattered a window of a vehicle she was riding in.
The shootings have kept the city on edge and prompted several school districts to keep their buses off freeways and even altered some motorists’ commutes to avoid I-10.
Authorities have offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case and also distributed thousands of fliers in communities along the freeway to raise awareness about the shootings and the reward.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said state troopers have stepped up patrols, while other agencies assisting in the investigation have included Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa police as well as the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"I think it's fair to say since a week ago, we've made headway in this case," Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said earlier Friday.
Meanwhile Friday, a judge ordered the release of a 19-year-old man who was detained at a convenience store Sept. 11 and questioned regarding the shootings. Authorities have declined to explain why the man was questioned about the shootings but have said he was not a prime suspect.
He was arrested on an alleged probation violation stemming from marijuana found in the man's house during a Sept. 11 search based on a tip that he was violating probation by possessing a gun. The man had been sentenced to probation on an endangerment conviction for excessive speeding and fleeing from police.
Three young men were arrested and accused of hurling rocks at cars with slingshots in a case that authorities called a copycat to the shootings, but one of the young men denied in jail interviews that was the case.
"We got him!" Ducey tweeted. "Great work by Arizona DPS investigators and SWAT team."
Fox 10 Phoenix reports police were seen impounding a dark grey Saturn from the Wal-Mart parking lot and taking another woman into custody.