A 19-year-old Chandler man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for a shooting he carried out when he was just 16 years old, one that left two people dead and a third seriously injured in the Gila River Indian Community. Robert Sean Enos, an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, opened fire on three people on June 1, 2024, according to federal investigators.
The case was investigated by the FBI Central Arizona Safe Trails Task Force, and the sentencing was announced in a post from FBI Phoenix
. The agency's post states plainly that Enos “shot three people” on the day in question, killing two of them and leaving the third with serious injuries. Enos was sentenced to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder, per the same post.
Separately, a search-result excerpt attributed to the Department of Justice names the sentencing date as Oct. 8 and identifies the presiding judge as U.S. District Judge Susan R. Brnovich, stating that Enos had pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and one additional count. That excerpt comes from a listing for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, though the full release detailing those specifics was not available for direct review, so those particulars should be treated with appropriate caution even as they align with the broader sentence length confirmed by the FBI.
How a 16-Year-Old Ends Up Facing Adult Murder Charges
Enos was 16 at the time of the shooting, a detail that raises the question of how a minor winds up prosecuted and sentenced like an adult. Arizona law has a rule for county prosecutions: the Arizona Legislature's statute on juvenile felony charging requires county attorneys to prosecute 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds in the same manner as adults when they are accused of second-degree murder.
That county-level rule does not explain Enos's federal prosecution or sentence. The case moved through the federal system and resulted in a federal sentencing.
What Remains Unknown About the Shooting
Beyond the bare facts confirmed by investigators, much about the June 2024 shooting remains undisclosed. The identities, ages and conditions of the two people killed and the person seriously wounded have not been made public in the available materials, nor has the exact location within the Gila River Indian Community, the weapon involved, or a detailed account of how the shooting unfolded.
It also isn't clear from the available record whether the 30-year sentence includes any concurrent or consecutive terms, supervised release, or credit for time already served, nor is there a complete accounting of every charge Enos faced. The task force responsible for the investigation, the FBI Central Arizona Safe Trails Task Force, has previously been recognized for its work — the FBI's Phoenix field office notes the unit was honored with a prestigious FBI Director's Award for its efforts combating violent crime in tribal communities.
