TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Tucson man is hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds from an attack on a Goodwill donation site Friday. Deputies are still looking for the shooter as family members ask the community to help find the attacker.
Hospitals are all about hope. There was a news conference at St Joseph’s Hospital Monday full of hope for the recovery of a young man badly hurt in an attack on a Goodwill facility and hope that authorities will arrest the man who attacked him.
Family and friends gathered to build their hope that the community will keep Juan Cristobal Flores and his case in the public eye—to build awareness that may help Sheriff’s deputies find the man who came to a Goodwill collection facility near Valencia and Kolb, badly wounded Juan Flores, and a female co-worker. That woman’s family does not want her name shared.
Family members say they feel local government has failed to keep the community safe.
Juan Flores' mother Alma sees her son as another example of violence, without justice.
“He is able to listen to me even though he is paralysed.”
We asked Juan’s Flores father what he would say if he could speak to the shooter.
He said, “I have not analysed my feelings to say, I will kill him or something. It wouldn’t give me any consolation. It wouldn’t change anything. I have no idea of that person. Even though I have seen his photograph. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Sheriff’s investigators say the case looks like a random attack. They say the suspect is Caucasian or Hispanic, approximately 6 feet tall, and weighs about 200 pounds. A stolen car that PCSD had also been searching for in connection with this case has been located. Investigators say anyone with a tip that could find the suspect should call 88-Crime or 911.
Goodwill says it has never seen violence like this at its sites. It will review security at all its facilities and transform the donation center on Valencia to a warehouse only.
Juan Flores shared his love of music as a choir member at Catalina United Methodist Church. Associate Pastor Kelli Knight says we live in a world where bad things do happen to good people.
“And so, what we do have is a God that walks with us during those dark times. We just celebrated the birth of Christ among us which is the light of hope. And that’s the hope we cling to.”
