A man is dead after deputies responded to a report of a person shot at a home on East Calle Iglesia in Guadalupe just before 9:30 p.m. Friday. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says the man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries, and no arrest has been announced as investigators continue searching for answers.
According to AZ Family, deputies have not publicly identified the victim, and authorities have not released any suspect information as the case remains an open investigation. The shooting is under investigation in Guadalupe.
A Street With a Troubled Recent History
MCSO opened a homicide investigation on March 2, 2025, after an early-morning shooting near Calle Iglesia and Avenida del Yaqui left one man dead and another critically injured, deputies responding to gunshots reported around 5 a.m., as detailed by 12News. Roughly five months before that, 34-year-old Julian Romero was listed in a Tempe, Arizona, case dated October 12, 2024, according to CrimeSolversCentral. The cited reports describe the two cases without stating their current status.
The pattern has become a source of growing frustration in Guadalupe, a town of just 0.8 square miles and roughly 5,322 residents as of the 2020 Census, landlocked between Phoenix, Tempe, Interstate 10, and the Highline Canal, per the U.S. Census Bureau. Founded around 1900 by Yaqui Native Americans, the tight-knit enclave has no municipal police force of its own, instead contracting law enforcement to MCSO, which assigns one patrol beat during day shifts, two beats in the evening, a dedicated detective, and a Community Police Deputy, according to the Town of Guadalupe.
Sheriff Pledges to Meet With Families of Unsolved Cases
Just weeks before Friday's shooting, Sheriff Jerry Sheridan pledged to meet with families connected to roughly a dozen unsolved homicides in Guadalupe dating back to early 2024, amid community concern that mistrust of deputies has discouraged witnesses from coming forward, KJZZ reported in a story Hoodline previously covered in its piece on the dozen unsolved Guadalupe murders. Community leaders have said that fear stemming from a history of racial profiling has made eyewitnesses reluctant to report information to MCSO detectives, according to the same KJZZ report.
That mistrust traces back in part to the *Melendres v. Arpaio* civil rights case, in which a federal court found MCSO had unconstitutionally racially profiled Latino drivers under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Maricopa County announced in December 2025 that it had filed a motion in federal court seeking to end court oversight tied to that ruling, which has cost taxpayers more than $300 million. Lingering disparities in traffic stops have continued to affect community trust, activists have said.
Other Incidents in Town
In late May, a woman suffering from a gunshot wound sought help at the Guadalupe fire station in life-threatening condition before being rushed to a hospital, prompting a separate MCSO investigation that also remains open. Notably, the new shooting comes just days after September 8, 2026.
If a suspect is identified and charged, the possible charges and penalties would depend on the circumstances. Authorities have not shared whether anyone was arrested in Friday's case, and MCSO has not released the victim's name or any suspect information as the investigation continues.
