Tempe PD: Deadly shootings sparked by drug deals initiated on Snapchat
Police: Two drug deals that started on Snapchat ended in two murders in Tempe
Social media and technology are big players in this case, along with the help of witnesses as police say two drug deals started on Snapchat, but ended with two murders.
TEMPE, Ariz. - Social media and technology are big players in this case, along with the help of witnesses as police say two drug deals started on Snapchat, but ended with two murders.
19-year-old Zareek Batchelor and 20-year-old Quinshawn Hopkins were taken into custody on October 17. They're both accused of first-degree murder.
A little more than two weeks ago, Tempe Police officers responded to a shooting at the El Pollo Loco restaurant near the Arizona Mills mall.
Zareek Batchelor; Quinshawn Hopkins
A witness told officers he and the victim came to the area to sell marijuana after initiating the drug deal on Snapchat. The witness says the suspect exited a white Chevrolet Impala and began shooting. Police found four 9 mm casings at the scene.
Later that night, police responded to a double shooting at the Sanctuary on Broadway apartments. This time, two people were found shot in a vehicle. One person was dead. A third person who witnessed the shooting told police they came to sell marijuana -- another deal organized through Snapchat.
Police say the 18 shell casings found at the apartment complex matched the ones at El Pollo Loco and determined they were fired from the same gun.
Another witness told the police they saw a group of young men at a McDonald's restaurant near the El Pollo Loco shooting scene that acted suspiciously and got into a white Chevrolet Impala.
Batchelor and Hopkins were identified on surveillance video with two other men. Snapchat messages led detectives to Hopkins. Batchelor was arrested at the Sanctuary Apartments complex.
Batchelor and Hopkins told detectives that the victims of both shootings opened fire before they did.
Police also say the suspects went to California after the murders and later returned to Arizona.
MORE: