Second Phx shooting victim dies, police recover guns
A second victim of Wednesday's shooting at an office building in Phoenix, attorney Mark Hummels, died Thursday night. Police found three guns in suspect Arthur Harmon's car, including the pistols used in the shooting.
Hummels was one of three people shot in Wednesday's attack, and the second to die following the shooting.
"He passed away at 9:33 p.m. yesterday, last night," said Athia Hardt, speaking on behalf of Osborne Maledon, the firm where Hummels worked.
Hummels, 43, leaves behind a wife, Dana, and two young children. Funeral services have been planned for next Tuesday.
Shooting suspect Arthur Harmon killed himself in a Mesa parking lot following the shooting, police said.
Weapons were found in Harmon's car Thursday morning including a Springfield 1911 .45 caliber pistol, a Ruger .22 caliber pistol and a 1970's vintage Colt AR15 rifle. All will undergo forensic testing.
"The pistols were used in the shooting at the office complex while the rifle was fired at the witness who followed him," Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Tommy Thompson said. "It is believed they were all recovered at the scene in Mesa where Arthur Harmon was found."
The Osborn Maledon website described Hummels as "a devoted father, adoring husband and true friend" in his personal life and "a future star" professionally.
"Particular to Tucson, Mark went to to the James Rogers College of Law, graduating first in his class in 2004," Hardt said. "He went on to achieve the highest score on the Arizona Bar Exam. He then clerked for Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Hurwitz before joining Osborn Maledon, P.A."
Hardt said that the family is planning funeral services for 4:30 p..m. next Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre, 203 W. Adams, Phoenix.
The Arizona Community Foundation is accepting donations to a Mark Hummels Memorial Fund. The family will also be making arrangements for an educational fund for Hummel's children.
3 shot, 2 fatally
Harmon shot three people at a Phoenix office complex Wednesday morning, police said.
Steven D. Singer, 48, the CEO of a Scottsdale call center, died Wednesday.
The third gunshot victim, Nichole Hampton, 32, is recovering in the hospital.
Harmon was found dead Thursday morning in a Mesa shopping center parking lot from what appeared to be self-inflicted gun shot wounds, police confirmed.
Police said that Harmon's body was found near Loop 202 and Dobson Road along the Logan Roadhouse restaurant by a landscaper. Officers then located Harmon's white Kia nearby.
Gunfire broke out near a mortgage company on 16th Street north of Glendale Avenue, around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Three wounded people were taken to an area hospital, one with life-threatening injuries, Thompson said
Hummels was shot in the head and neck and underwent surgery, according to an email sent out Wednesday by a colleague in the Phoenix law firm Osborn Maledon.
Hummels represented Singer's firm, Fusion Contact Centers, in a suit filed by Harmon in 2012 over a contract in which the shooting suspect was to refinish call center furniture.
According to court records, Harmon was advanced $29,000 in a deal that he later alleged was a "scam."
An arbitration hearing was scheduled in the case Wednesday morning.
Police said that Harmon became involved in an argument with Singer and Hummels outside the office after the meeting. He shot them both, and Hampton, who was a bystander, Thompson said.
Officers cordoned off Harmon's home near 28th Street and Greenway Road — about seven miles from the shooting scene — until they obtained a search warrant Wednesday afternoon. A search of his home took just minutes in the afternoon.
A neighbor of Harmon's said an officer told her that the Kia was rented, and that his burgundy or brown Bronco or Blazer was missing.
"I don't know what he had to be upset about," said neighbor Tina Rooker on Wednesday, describing Harmon as "grumpy" and "not a people person." He was the neighborhood mechanic, she said, and liked to drink beer in his front yard.
"He's not somebody you say hi to when you go by; you don't get the same response," she said.
Rooker's husband, Stewart, said "I just know him as the race car guy."
Early reports from the scene indicated that up to five people had been shot. Medical workers took two other people from the scene who were being treated for stress, Thompson said.