Body matching suspected Phoenix office gunman is found

A body matching the description of a man suspected in a fatal office shooting in Phoenix was discovered Thursday morning in a suburb east of the city, police said.

About 8 a.m., Mesa police officers found a man who had apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said. The man matched the description of Arthur Douglas Harmon, who is suspected of fatally shooting a man and injuring two others Wednesday in an office complex in the 7300 block of 16th Street.

Mesa police also located the 2013 Kia Optima that Phoenix police said the suspected gunman used to drive away from the shooting scene.

Thursday’s discovery appears to mark the culmination of a manhunt for Harmon, 70, who police said fired a gun after a meeting on pending litigation.

“Apparently it was not the outcome he expected and so on his way out this is what happened,” Sgt. Steve Martos told the Los Angeles Times.

Harmon is suspected of killing Steve Singer, 48, and injuring a 43-year-old man who was last reported to be in critical condition. A 32-year-old woman was also shot, Thompson said.

Others were treated for stress-related symptoms.

It appears the shooting was not random, Thompson added. Singer and the other man were intended targets, Thompson said. It’s possible that the woman was an unintended victim.

The shooting came on the same day former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was badly wounded two years ago in a shooting in Tucson, testified on gun control on Capitol Hill.

Her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who testified along with his wife at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun control issues, interrupted his testimony to break the news of the Phoenix shooting. After Kelly was asked a question by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) about his support of background checks for gun owners, Kelly prefaced his response by saying:

“While we were having this hearing -- and we certainly don’t know the details -- but in Phoenix, Arizona, there is another, what seems to be possibly a shooting with multiple victims. And it doesn’t seem like anybody’s been killed, but the initial reports are three people injured in Phoenix, Arizona, with multiple shots fired and there are 50 or so police cars on the scene.”

Then he answered the question.

“And I certainly agree with you, sir, that a universal background check that is effective, that has the mental health records in it, that has the criminal records in it, will go a long way toward saving people’s lives.”

ALSO:

White House, politicians react to Hadiya Pendleton shooting death

Jurors convict priest and teacher in Philadelphia sex-abuse scandal

Ohio judge rejects bid to close or move rape trial of two 16-year-olds

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

@thecindycarcamo