A 33-year-old Tucson man is dead after being found with a gunshot wound near Sahuara Avenue and East 29th Street, and homicide detectives are now working to piece together what happened. Officers responded to a home in the area on Monday for a report of a shooting and found Eddie Lopez Jr. suffering from the wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to KVOA, Operations Division East patrol officers were the ones who responded to the call near Sahuara Avenue and 29th Street. That unit operates out of the Erik D. Hite Eastside Substation on East Golf Links Road and covers city limits east of Craycroft Road, according to the City of Tucson. Investigators searched the surrounding area for evidence after finding Lopez, and the Tucson Police Department has confirmed the case remains an open, ongoing homicide investigation.
No suspect information, motive, or timeline beyond the discovery of Lopez's body has been released, and those details remain open questions as detectives continue their work. The station's report notes that anyone with information is being asked to contact 88-CRIME, and tipsters can remain completely anonymous.
How the Anonymous Tip Line Works
The 88-CRIME program, run in partnership with the Pima County Attorney's Office and 88-CRIME Inc., offers tipsters cash rewards of up to $2,500 for information that leads to a felony arrest or indictment, per 88-CRIME. The program uses encrypted phone lines and mobile apps designed to keep callers' identities fully protected. During Fiscal Year 2026, anonymous tips submitted through the program directly helped Southern Arizona law enforcement make 83 arrests, clear 104 cases, and distribute $55,600 in private rewards, including clearing two homicides, according to 88-CRIME's own reporting.
Tucson police have historically had strong success closing out killings once cases are opened. The department solved 65 of 67 murder cases investigated in 2024, a clearance rate near 97 percent, according to data reported by Arizona Public Media. Citywide, homicides dropped 14 percent and nonfatal shootings fell 18 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, per figures released by the City of Tucson.
A Violent Stretch Across Tucson
Lopez's death adds to a string of gun violence that has struck Tucson this month. Four days before the Sahuara Avenue shooting, on August 13, law enforcement responded to a separate fatal shooting on the city's southwest side near West Valencia Road and South Camino De Oeste that left 31-year-old Kevin Tucker dead, with the Pima County Sheriff's Department leading that investigation, according to CrimeLocal. Earlier this month, Tucson police also investigated the homicide of 19-year-old Julissa Rubi Salazar, who was found strangled in a Midtown apartment, a case that ultimately led to an international arrest in Germany.
Seasonal data may help explain the recent surge. Tucson Police Department figures released in mid-2026 showed violent crime climbing nearly 18 percent during the hottest summer months of 2025, according to reporting from the Tucson Spotlight. Whether that seasonal pattern played any role in Lopez's death is unknown, and investigators have not attributed a motive to the case.
What Charges Could Look Like
No arrest has been announced in Lopez's death, and it remains unclear whether investigators have identified a suspect. If charges are eventually filed, Arizona law draws a sharp line between degrees of murder. Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-1105, first-degree murder applies to premeditated or felony-related fatal acts and is a Class 1 felony carrying a sentence of life imprisonment or the death penalty, according to legal reference site AZ Defenders. Notably, Arizona law allows premeditation to form in just a brief moment of reflection before a killing.
Second-degree murder, covered under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-1104, applies to intentional killings committed without premeditation or to reckless conduct showing extreme indifference to human life, carrying a mandatory 10-to-25-year prison sentence, according to the Hamp Law Offices. Those sentences are served day-for-day without the possibility of early release. For now, the investigation into Lopez's death remains active, and police have released no additional details about how or why the shooting occurred.
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