A man was sentenced to life in prison plus an addtion 56 years in connection

Aaron Ware, 26, received the sentence for the shootings, including one that wounded a Phoenix Police detective, according to a release from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

In June 2022, the detective was doing surveillance on a car connected to several shootings earlier in the month. The car drove up to the detective’s unmarked vehicle, which was parked in a neighborhood near 43^rd Avenue and Baseline Road, according to the release.

The detective saw two men wearing masks in the car and put her ballistic vest on. The car drove down the street, turned around and came back to the detective’s vehicle. Two men then got out and shot at the detective, hitting her several times.

Ware and his co-defendant, 25-year-old Ahmani Gordon, were arrested about a mile away. Forensics linked guns and casings found at the time of their arrest to the crime, the release said.

Ware was also charged for four other shootings – one on June 3, two on June 7, and one on June 11. The two shootings on June 7 resulted in gunshot wounds to three people who all survived. No one was hurt in the other two incidents.

Ware was convicted by juries in two separate trials. In June 2025, he was found guilty of four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of discharge of a firearm at a structure, two counts of drive-by shooting, one count of unlawful discharge of a firearm, and one count of disorderly conduct, all felonies according to the report.

In August, Ware was convicted on three felony charges related to the detective being shot: one count of attempt to commit first-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of discharge of firearm at a structure.

Gordon, who was only charged in the shooting of the detective, was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault.

“When someone puts our community and the people protecting it in danger, there has to be real consequences,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the release. “This sentence is justice not only for the victims, but for every person in Maricopa County who deserves to live without fear of violence in their neighborhood.”