James Lee Carr Identified, Arrested for Allegedly Shooting Federal Officer

Sixty-eight-year-old James Lee Carr was arrested Wednesday afternoon for allegedly firing the shots that wounded a security officer outside a federal courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona.

Breitbart News reported the shooting on September 15, 2020, and shared a Phoenix Police Department tweet showing a photo of a car police wanted to find:

Fox 10 Phoenix reports the car in the photo was gray Cadillac allegedly driving by Carr.

The suspect was described as “wearing a full-brimmed hat, driving a silver Cadillac sedan westbound on Washington Street on the north side of the courthouse,” when he allegedly opened fire on a courthouse security guard who was inspecting a UPS truck before allowing it to enter the courthouse gate.

Carr allegedly fired a handgun, hitting the officer in his bullet-proof vest. The officer returned fire, striking the Cadillac roughly eight times.

Carr fled the scene and, a short time later, allegedly called his brother and confessed that he had carried out the shooting. AZ Central reports Carr allegedly told his brother “he wanted to die because he shot the security guard.”

After the confession Carr’s brother, son, and ex-wife went and located him at Verde Park with a rifle and revolver allegedly lying beside him. The son took away the guns and the ex-wife called 911 to report Carr’s location.

Police took Carr into custody and tested his left hand for firearm residue. As they did, Carr allegedly said, “That’s not the hand I shot with.”

ABC 15 reports that Carr’s ex-wife’s nephew described him as someone who “wasn’t a violent guy…[but] suffered from mental illness.”

Phoenix city councilman Sal DiCiccio posted a tweet suggesting Carr was a Black Lives Matter supporter, but Carr’s nephew denied the allegation and contended his actions had “nothing to do with Black Lives Matter or anything like that.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.