Suspect faces murder charge after woman shot to death at Mesa bus stop
MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — Authorities in Mesa have identified a man facing a first-degree murder charge after allegedly shooting a woman to death at a bus stop early Tuesday morning.
Mesa police received several 911 calls around 7:30 a.m. about a man, who has since been identified as Andrew Rada, 44, firing a rifle in the parking lot of an ARCO gas station near McKellips Road and Center Street.
Witnesses say Rada was firing his gun while facing south on Center, and police say the callers then reported seeing a woman lying on the ground next to the bus stop.
Officers arrived to find the victim, later identified as 52-year-old Michelle Flippin, unresponsive, who then died at the scene.
Authorities say Rada drove off in a dark red colored Ram truck but was found near Country Club Drive and McKellips, about a half-mile from the scene.
Police stopped the car as it was getting onto Loop 202 and detained Rada and an unnamed passenger. However, the passenger was wanted in connection to a felony warrant unrelated to the shooting.
“We believe that we have both the people that we are looking for, and we are not looking for anybody else right now. We don’t feel like there is any other threat to the community going on at this time,” Mesa Police Det. Richard Encinas said.
The department credits its Real Time Crime Center for being able to locate the suspects quickly.
Witnesses in the area say they were shaken up by the violence.
“I noticed the person crouched down in my car, and accelerated a little, and hid behind the garbage containers. Seeing him so close and thinking that he could have turned and shot at us as we were stopped there. So yeah, my reaction was to protect myself. At that moment, I heard five to six shots,” said Daniel, who works at a tire shop across the street from where the shooting happened.
“In that moment I thought more than anything about protecting myself, my integrity and then what is happening? It’s 7:30 and seeing a person shooting in the morning when several of us are heading to our jobs; well, it makes you think,” he said.
Police say Rada and Flippin didn’t know each other. However, they confirmed it was an isolated incident.
During an interview with detectives, Rada reportedly admitted to being involved with the shooting, claiming that Flippin had been waving around a gun, but investigators say she wasn’t armed.
Rada has now been booked into jail.
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