A woman is in custody after El Mirage police say she shot a Circle K employee for catching her shoplifting early Friday morning. Officers say they arrested 23-year-old Kiana Viola after an officer recognized her.
According to the El Mirage Police Department (EMPD), on Oct. 28, at approximately 5:25 a.m., they received 911 calls reporting gunshots had been fired near the entrance of the Rosewood Estates Trailer Park, 12721 W. Greenway Road in El Mirage. As officers responded, they were notified a victim had sustained a gunshot wound.
When they arrived on the scene, a Surprise Police Department officer and EMPD officers located the victim, a 30-year-old female, at the entrance to the complex. She had been shot in the chest. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital in serious-but-stable condition.
EMPD officers obtained video showing Viola brandishing a handgun in a threatening manner at the victim several blocks from where the shooting occurred. An EMPD officer who was securing the crime scene observed a vehicle preparing to exit the complex and recognized Viola from the video seated in the passenger seat.
Detectives have determined that at 5:09 a.m., Viola and a male arrived in a pickup truck at the Circle K located at 12707 W. Grand Avenue in Surprise. The victim, an employee at the Circle K, observed Viola shoplift several items. The victim followed Viola out of the Circle K and continued to follow her on foot to the trailer park, where Viola is suspected of shooting the victim.
Search warrants were served by EMPD in support of the investigation, resulting in the seizure of a semi-automatic handgun.
Viola was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on charges of (Attempted) Second-Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, Unlawful Discharge of Firearms, and Endangerment.