Victim of Mesa shooting rampage posts selfie on Snapchat before running for help

Ryan Elliot Giroux, a 41-year-old neo-Nazi skinhead with a long prison record, is accused of a shooting rampage that injured two people and killed one in Mesa, Ariz. on Wednesday. Isaac Martinez, 20, was one of the shooting victims. He posted a picture of himself in blood-stained clothes on the social app Snapchat before running down the block for help. “I just got shot,”  he said.

Martinez, a 20-year-old student at East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, was arriving at the restaurant Bistro 13 on Wednesday morning for a culinary class when a man reportedly came in an demanded his keys, wanting to use his vehicle as a getaway car. Martinez reported on Facebook that when he said no, the suspect pulled a gun and cocked it. He was shot, then ran out the back door.

Giroux’s identity was confirmed Wednesday night by Mesa police. He has been in prison in Arizona several times for crimes including burglary, theft and assault. His last sentence ended in 2013 and his parole supervision ended in October 2014.

The shooting rampage apparently started inside a motel room at the Tri-City Inn, across the street from Bistro 13, with an argument that moved outside. David James Williams, 29, was killed and two women were wounded.  The gunman ran across the street to the restaurant, looking for a getaway car, at which point he reportedly shot Martinez, who was able to run down the street for help. Giroux stole the chef instructor’s car.

Mark Potok of Hatewatch, a hate crimes bulletin published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, reports that Giroux’s many tattoos are associated with white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. A retired Mesa police detective said that he is part of a skinhead group named Hammerskin Nation.

Giroux was subdued after being shot with a Taser and taken into custody after he was spotted by police on the balcony of a condominium complex. It is not yet known what triggered the shooting spree.

Martinez posted on Facebook that the bullet, which hit him from behind, went through his shoulder and out the “coller” area. He says it was a “miracle hit,” as any higher or lower and it could have shattered his shoulder blade or hit an artery.

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