Phoenix Police have arrested Saul Bal, a 41-year-old man, following a Phoenix shooting that tragically resulted in the death of an officer and injured another. The same suspect is also significantly entwined in an unsolved murder case from earlier last year, according to information released by local law enforcement, as FOX 10 Phoenix reported.
Officials revealed that Bal is an investigative lead in the death of Justin Finch, a 32-year-old man found fatally shot inside his apartment on January 8, 2023. The case remains shrouded in uncertainty with no probable cause yet established to conclusively tag anyone as the perpetrator, as Phoenix Police communicated. The details of Finch's death quickly to become another dark marker in the annals of Phoenix's unresolved crimes, Bal's name emerges to connect dots that possibly outline a picture of compounded tragedies.
The fallen officer, named Zane Coolidge, had served the Phoenix Police Department for five years before being shot during a response to a car burglary. Meanwhile, Officer Matthew Haney, who also came under fire, survived the incident, noted for being saved by his ballistic vest. After a brief pursuit on foot, Bal is alleged to have opened fire on the officers, with FOX 10 Phoenix mentioning that Bal tried attempting to flee the scene by jumping a fence.
In attempting to untangle these events leading to Officer Coolidge's demise, the Phoenix Police Interim Chief Michael Sullivan offered a grim reflection, eloquently captured when he told reporters, "If you look at the individual that was involved in this incident, if you look at his criminal history and his arrests over the years, the criminal justice system has to do better." The chief's remarks, shared by ABC15, paint a desperate picture of a system failing to prevent the very crimes it exists to parry.
Despite a history of arrests and charges, only earlier in 2023, Bal was in police custody for alleged drug possession and criminal trespassing. However, the case did not result in a conviction, with Maricopa County prosecutors returning the case for further investigation, as ABC15 noted.
