On New Year's Day in Phoenix, Arizona, a young man named Leon Greer, aged 19, was fatally shot. He was a passenger in a vehicle when it was struck by gunfire. The incident left him with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Police discovered the young man in the backseat of a car that was parked outside of a Waffle House located near University Drive and Elwood Street. Another passenger in the vehicle was also wounded and subsequently transported to a hospital for treatment.
Leon Greer was pronounced deceased at the scene a short time after he was found.
Following the shooting, an investigation was launched to identify those responsible for Leon Greer's death. The investigation led to the arrests of two suspects, 35-year-old Gary Green and 30-year-old Randale Thomas. Authorities were able to connect Green and Thomas to the crime through a review of their Facebook records, which contained messages where the two allegedly discussed the incident at the Waffle House.
A search of the suspects' residence uncovered a gun that was the same caliber as the shell casings found at the scene of the shooting. The motive for the murder appears to be an act of retaliation connected to prior crimes that involved associates of the suspects. Both Gary Green and Randale Thomas were taken into custody and booked into the Maricopa County jail for their alleged involvement in the death of Leon Greer.
