Julius Benavides (San Carlos Apache Police Department)
PERIDOT, Ariz. - A 20-year-old man is behind bars after allegedly firing dozens of rounds in a San Carlos Apache Reservation neighborhood late Wednesday night, according to tribal police.
What we know:
San Carlos Apache Police Department officers arrested Julius Benavides on Aug. 12 after multiple frantic calls poured in reporting rapid gunfire and muzzle flashes in the New Moonbase Community. Authorities confirmed no injuries were reported, and the active investigation that shut down Geronimo Drive has ended, with the area reopened to local traffic.
According to law enforcement, officers were dispatched to the scene around 9:30 p.m. after witnesses reported hearing between 15 and 20 gunshots and seeing flashes of light in the neighborhood. When they arrived, officers found Benavides standing near a home with a gun in his hand.
RELATED: San Carlos Apache police chief to prosecute own nephew after New Moonbase gun 'incident'
Responding officers gave verbal orders, commanding Benavides to put down the weapon. He eventually complied with police, dropped the firearm and was taken into custody. Investigators later recovered evidence tied to the shooting from the scene.
Benavides was booked into jail on multiple charges:
- Misconduct involving weapons
- Misuse of a firearm
- Disorderly conduct by discharging a weapon
- Interfering with a law enforcement officer
What they're saying:
Benavides showed signs of impairment when San Carlos housing security officers responded to the 911 calls. Ricardo Alvarado, a spokesperson for the police department, told FOX 10 that an officer heard a round being chambered and called out to the gunman in the shadows.
"He backed into his house… he stood in the doorway, manipulating his weapon," Alvadaro said. "He had little compliance in the beginning, but eventually he tossed what was in his hands out. He wasn't very cooperative."
According to Alvarado, Benavides stated, "Go find for yourself," when officers asked if there was anyone wounded in the house. A search party was later deployed to make sure there were no injuries because it was "very dark" and "a large amount of shots had been fired," the spokesperson said, noting they found the home unoccupied.
San Carlos Apache gun incidents this summer
Last month, San Carlos Apache police arrested the nephew of the department's chief, Elliot Sneezy, following what was described as a gun-related incident in the same New Moonbase neighborhood. Although there are just four to seven housing security officers patrolling "a very vast area" of the reservation each night, Alvarado said, both incidents ended quickly and with no injuries.
"Has patrol stepped up? We do the best we have with the resources available to us," he said. "Yes, there was that incident that took place with the relative of the chief, and it was in the same area. Unfortunately, we can't be everywhere… [but] we can do better as long as we have the community buy-in."
The goal is to prevent what happened in June, when a teenage girl was shot and killed elsewhere within the San Carlos Apache territory.
Map of the area where the Aug. 12 gunfire rang out:
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the San Carlos Apache Police Department.