A Gila River Indian Community resident is dead and another man is now in custody after a New Year’s Day shooting on the reservation that took investigators more than two months to crack.
Police say the victim, Ronald Enos, was found on Jan. 1 in the Community’s south housing area with a gunshot wound. He later died from his injuries. The arrest, which came Monday, was made inside the reservation, according to tribal authorities.
Suspect Taken Into Custody After Multi-Agency Probe
According to 12News, the Gila River Indian Police Department identified the suspect as Steven Johns and said he was taken into custody Monday in connection with Enos’s killing.
The investigation pulled in multiple agencies, including the Gila River Police Department Criminal Investigations Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Safe Trails Task Force, 12News reported. The outlet noted that Johns’s arrest came more than two months after the Jan. 1 shooting.
Tribal Police And Where To Report Tips
Per the Gila River Police Department website, the agency provides patrol and criminal investigations across the Community’s seven districts in the Phoenix metro area. The site lists non-emergency phone numbers and options for submitting tips as cases unfold.
Community Context
The arrest comes amid heightened anxiety over violent crime in the Community. In 2025, the Gila River Indian Community briefly imposed a curfew for minors in an effort to tamp down a rise in crime, Fox10 Phoenix reported.
Public safety concerns intensified after a June 2024 shooting on the reservation that left a Gila River police officer dead and another officer injured, ABC15 reported. Tribal leaders and law enforcement have urged residents to stay alert, report suspicious activity and share any information that could help investigators.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the New Year’s Day shooting to contact the Gila River Police Department. The department’s site lists a non-emergency tip line at Gila River Public Safety, and investigators say they are continuing to follow leads as the case moves forward.
