A verbal argument in the parking lot of a longtime Casa Grande bar turned deadly early Saturday, leaving one man dead and touching off a manhunt for the gunman, who police say fled the scene and remains armed and dangerous. Officers responded to the Airport Tavern at 1801 N. Pinal Ave. at about 1:45 a.m. and found 37-year-old Jacob Encinas suffering from a single gunshot wound to his upper torso in the parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a verbal altercation between Encinas and 21-year-old Tristen Lee Alvarez that occurred just before the shots were fired. Alvarez fled the scene, and Casa Grande police have stated he is being sought and should be considered armed and dangerous. No other injuries were reported in connection with the shooting.
Detectives have collected significant evidence related to the investigation, according to police, and the crime scene has since reopened to the general public. Police have advised anyone who sees Alvarez or knows his whereabouts not to approach him and to contact law enforcement immediately instead.
A Second Crisis Two Miles Away
About four hours after the tavern shooting, Casa Grande police responded to a separate and unrelated critical incident roughly two miles southwest of the Airport Tavern, on West Orchid Place. There, a 49-year-old woman barricaded herself inside a home and fired a shot toward responding officers, according to the same report.
SWAT negotiators attempted to talk her out, but the negotiation was unsuccessful. Officers ultimately deployed a drone inside the home, where they found the woman dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. While the two incidents happened within hours of each other and strained the department's resources on the same night, police are treating them as entirely separate cases with no known connection.
The History Behind the Airport Tavern
The Airport Tavern where Encinas was killed is one of Casa Grande's oldest local establishments, built in 1945 by the Gomez family to serve the former Three Points Airport, according to Seasoned. The bar has long served as a roadside stop and live music venue for airmen and residents alike in the city of roughly 60,905 people, per Data Commons, which sits along the corridor between Phoenix and Tucson.
The manhunt for Alvarez is being led by the Casa Grande Police Department, which operates under Police Chief Mark McCrory and divides the city into five geographical patrol districts, according to the Casa Grande Police Department. Should Alvarez be located, any resulting case would move through Pinal County Superior Court, where violent felony prosecutions are handled by the Pinal County Attorney's Office, led by County Attorney Brad Miller.
What Charges Could Alvarez Face
It remains unclear exactly what triggered the initial dispute outside the tavern, or what specific charges prosecutors might eventually file once Alvarez is in custody. Under Arizona law, the distinction often comes down to intent and circumstance. Second-degree murder under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-1104 involves intentionally or recklessly causing a death without premeditation and carries a mandatory 10-to-25-year prison sentence, according to the Hamp Law Offices.
Alternatively, if prosecutors determine the shooting occurred in the heat of passion or during a sudden quarrel, it could instead be charged as manslaughter under A.R.S. § 13-1103, a Class 2 dangerous felony carrying a 7-to-21-year sentencing range for a first offense, per the Ramos Law Firm. It is also not known whether Alvarez has received help evading police since the shooting.
A County Grappling With Public Safety Strain
The overnight violence adds to a broader public-safety picture in Pinal County, where the Pinal County Sheriff's Office recorded 124 drug-related deaths in 2025, an 18 percent increase from 105 the year before, with methamphetamine detected in 74 percent of those fatal cases. The county's population also skews older than the state and nation, with residents 65 and up making up 21.9 percent of Pinal County, compared with 19.7 percent statewide and 18 percent nationally, according to USAFacts — demographic realities that shape how local law enforcement allocates its limited resources during nights like this one.
Anyone with information on Alvarez's whereabouts is urged to contact police. Tipsters can remain anonymous by calling the Silent Witness program at 520-836-2100.
