In the early light of July 23, 2025, deputies were called to the 1900 block of Erin Drive in Needles after reports of gunfire. Inside an apartment, first responders found four people shot. William Garhartt, 52, of Needles, was pronounced dead at the scene, his identity later confirmed by the San Bernardino County Coroner. The call came in around 6:39–6:40 a.m., and the apartment was described in coroner records as the home of a friend of William Garhartt, 52.
Three others survived the attack: a 23-year-old man and two women, ages 21 and 22. They were rushed to hospitals for treatment while investigators cordoned off the neighborhood and homicide detectives assumed the case. Officials did not immediately disclose their conditions or identities, and early statements offered no details about a motive.
Within days, investigators publicly identified a suspect: Xavier Scott, 20, of Needles. The sheriff’s department released his photo and asked the public for tips, noting the shooting unfolded inside the apartment just after daybreak. Detectives listed the scene as the 1900 block of Erin Drive and circulated a contact for the Specialized Investigations Division as they pressed the search.
By late September, the manhunt ended. Authorities announced that Xavier Scott had been found near the Arizona border along the Colorado River and arrested on September 24, 2025, in the Big River area. He was booked on one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder, with additional firearm-related enhancements noted in court records and reporting. An arrest log later recorded the September 24 booking by the San Bernardino County Sheriff.
From the first frantic 911 calls to the weeks-long hunt for a suspect, the investigation traced a tight circle around a quiet Needles apartment where the morning’s silence was broken. For William Garhartt, 52, the violence ended his life before paramedics could reach him; for detectives, it set a course that ultimately yielded an arrest and a pending case in which prosecutors alleged murder and attempted murder tied to the same burst of gunfire inside that Erin Drive home.
