On Sunday, November 6, 2016, at about 1:23 a.m., Phoenix police were dispatched to the Escala Central City apartment complex at 3606 East Van Buren Street after multiple 911 calls reported gunfire in the area. When officers arrived, they found Aaron Jarel White, a 21-year-old Black / African American man, lying at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead where he was found; there is no indication in public reports that he was transported to a hospital before being declared deceased.
The shooting took place in an east-central Phoenix neighborhood dominated by a large multi-unit apartment complex, and the early-morning timing meant most witnesses were likely residents or people passing through the area at that hour. Police and Silent Witness describe responding to “multiple calls of shots fired,” suggesting several people in or around the complex heard the gunfire and contacted authorities in quick succession. When officers reached the location, they located White already mortally wounded. Public summaries emphasize that he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, but they do not release further medical details or specify exactly where at the property—such as the parking lot, courtyard, or interior walkways—he collapsed.
Investigators quickly classified the case as a homicide and began seeking help from the public. Silent Witness issued a bulletin under media case number 2016-2304, noting that detectives were working to identify any possible suspect or suspect vehicle connected to the shooting. Local television coverage at the time echoed that call for information, with Phoenix police asking anyone who might have seen or heard something near 36th Street and Van Buren, or who had relevant knowledge about what led up to the gunfire, to come forward or submit an anonymous tip. Crime-tip materials also offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and/or indictment in the case, signaling that authorities viewed community assistance as crucial to moving the investigation forward.
Despite these efforts, the publicly available case information remains sparse years later. Official bulletins list the suspect simply as “unknown,” with no publicly released description of a person of interest, possible motive, or getaway vehicle, and they explicitly state that both the suspect and any involved vehicle have not been identified. Online discussions about the case, including forum posts that reference this homicide, have speculated about whether surveillance cameras at nearby businesses or traffic cameras along Van Buren might hold useful footage—such as images of a suspect vehicle or people leaving the scene—but there have been no public updates indicating that such evidence has led to a break in the case.
As of the most recent public updates, there are no reports of any arrests related to the killing of Aaron Jarel White, and law-enforcement and tip-line summaries continue to describe the shooter or shooters as unknown and the case as unresolved. The ongoing presence of the case on Silent Witness and cold-case style listings, along with the still-active reward offer, underscores that investigators are still seeking information from anyone who may be able to help identify the person or people responsible for his death.
