LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A series of sniper-style murders, rapes and robberies has paralyzed the southwestern desert city of Phoenix, Arizona in fear as police remain unable to find clues to the crime wave.
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Police are searching for two distinct shooters believed responsible for 11 murders and as many as 37 robberies and sexual assaults since last summer.
But investigators are stymied and hoping that cash rewards of 100,000 dollars may flush out the killers.
"Phoenix is and will remain a safe city," said Mayor Phil Gordon in a recent press conference. "We're all working 24-7 to get these animals off the street, and we will," he promised.
The killers have struck after dark, mostly in West Phoenix. Victims have been shot at bus stops, riding bicycles, and washing their cars.
Police investigators believe that the violence began last summer when several horses and dogs were found shot. One month later, the shooter or shooters moved on to human targets.
In 2002, a similarly terrifying and baffling rash of sniper murders chilled Washington DC, leaving 10 people dead, three more critically injured, and the nation's capitol on edge.
"I wish we could solve these crimes today, but real life isn't as simple as a detective show on television," said Gordon.
As of Tuesday morning, the Phoenix police department had no new leads in the case, according to Sergeant Andy Hill.
But in the mean time, the residents of Phoenix are taking matters into their own hands.
An online listing in Phoenix advertised kevlar protective vests, "to stay safe from the snipers." The cost of personal bulletproofing is currently two hundred dollars.
A crime fighting community action group known as the Guardian Angels has patrolled the streets for the last several nights where most of the shootings have occurred.
Marching through the streets in their signature red berets, the Angels hope to restore a sense of calm to the city.
"I don't think we'll actually catch this guy," Guardian Angel Brodie Broderson, 76 and a former military policeman, told AFP. "We're just trying to make the people feel a little bit better."
The group walks the streets with flashlights, two-way radios, and cameras, in an effort to "take back the streets from the criminals," according to Broderson.
"You see there's more of us than there are of them," he said. "But there's people out there scared to death to walk or bike home from work."
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