Police in Phoenix have enlisted the help of magnets to help find evidence in a serial shooter case.

Yesterday, 3TV reported that dive teams searched a canal near 10th Street and Indian School. While police would not say specifically what they were looking for, the news report showed that police were using large magnetic sweepers to dredge the canal. The magnet shown during the broadcast looks like our multi-surface magnetic broom.

3TV said police have identified 23-year old Aaron Saucedo as a person of interest in the case. Saucedo was arrested in connection with a murder in 2015. Saucedo reportedly lives two blocks away from the canal where dive teams searched, leading to speculation that he could have disposed of evidence in the canal.

Seven people were killed and two others were wounded in the unsolved shootings that happened in Phoenix between March 17 and July 11, 2016. Investigators believe that a total of nine incidents were committed by the same shooter or shooters.

Law enforcement agencies around the world frequently use underwater lifting magnets to search for evidence related to crimes. Here are three other interesting cases involving magnets:

• March 17, 2017: Magnet fisherman finds Derringer in San Francisco lake
• March 5, 2017: Using a powerful magnet, police find SUV lost in Kalamazoo River
• February 27, 2016: Gun found in dunny drop linked to murder and disappearance

Shields Magnetics has provided magnetic sweepers and handheld underwater magnets to law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Please contact us if you work with a law enforcement agency and are interested in learning more about using magnets in your investigations.