Scottsdale police have a rested 55-year-old Patrick Gruchala as the suspected shooter in an incident that left another man critically injured on Saturday, February 18.
According to the Scottsdale Police Department, the unintended victim was shot while seated in a parked vehicle in the neighborhood northeast of Alma School Road and Happy Valley Road. The victim suffered multiple gun shot wounds and remains in critical condition in the ICU at a local hospital.
Scottsdale police detectives responded to the initial shooting scene on the 18th and begin collecting information and evidence, including video surveillance, which led them to Gruchala as the suspect. Detectives conducting surveillance on Gruchala observed him hide a weapon of the same caliber used in the shooting in a desert wash at a separate residence he was staying at.
On the evening of the 19th, Gruchala was arrested at a Scottsdale residence. During a search warrant, evidence was recovered including clothing that matched what was seen in the surveillance footage and a note with the crime scene address.
Investigators believe that Gruchala intended to target one of the home owners at the incident location but he actually shot an innocent person who is showing up for an appointment at the house.
Gruchala was booked into the Maricopa county jail and one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.