On March 18, 2024, around 4:20 p.m., Phoenix police were called to a trailer/mobile home park in the Sunnyslope area near 13th Street and Cinnabar Avenue, close to Cave Creek Road, after reports of a shooting. Responding officers found William Broomfield, a 47-year-old White / Caucasian male, inside a residence with at least one gunshot wound. He was rushed to a local hospital but did not survive and was pronounced deceased a short time later.
Detectives took over the case and began
canvassing the park and surrounding neighborhood. Witnesses in the area reported hearing gunshots around the time of the incident, consistent with the timeline officers provided. The location was described in official and community case summaries as a trailer or mobile home park in north Phoenix's Sunnyslope neighborhood, emphasizing that the shooting occurred in a residential setting rather than a public commercial space.
According to police, follow-up work at the scene quickly led investigators to a suspect. Officers identified 33-year-old Robert Roach as the person believed to be involved in the shooting and located him near the scene, where he was arrested without reported incident. Preliminary investigative findings released by the Phoenix Police Department stated that Roach allegedly carried out an armed robbery targeting Broomfield, during which the victim was shot, leading to his death. Police announced that Roach would be booked on multiple charges, including murder, in connection with the killing, and described the case as still under active investigation, with additional details being withheld.
Later case-tracking and victim-advocacy sites summarized the incident as a homicide during an armed robbery, listing the case status as solved on the basis that a suspect had been arrested and charged, and there is no public indication in those records of additional suspects at large.
