Flagstaff, AZ – A fugitive from Birmingham, Alabama was
arrested by the United States Marshals Service, and the Flagstaff Police
Department, in Flagstaff, AZ on January 12, 2022. Joshua Sanders was
wanted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for his involvement in a
double homicide that occurred on Thursday, January 6, 2022, resulting in
a mother and daughter being killed.
“The arrest of Sanders at the Greyhound Bus
Station in Flagstaff was executed in a manner that ensured other
passengers and the public at the station were not placed in any danger”,
said United States Marshal David Gonzales. “Sanders, who was recently
released from prison, and had 3 handguns in his possession, told Deputy
Marshals at the time of his arrest that if he had the opportunity, he
would have shot at them in order to make an escape.”
Joshua Sanders was identified by the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation as the prime suspect in the shooting and killing
of a female acquaintance and her mother in Vidalia, Georgia, during a
domestic dispute. After the shooting, Sanders stole the victim’s vehicle
and fled back to Birmingham, Alabama where the vehicle was later
discovered abandoned.
During the investigation, it was learned that
Sanders boarded a bus from Tulsa, Oklahoma on the evening of January 11,
2022, en route to Los Angeles, California. The U.S. Marshal Service in
Savannah, Georgia requested the assistance from the U.S. Marshal Service
in Arizona with locating and arresting Sanders. On January 12, 2022, the
U.S. Marshal Service, with the assistance of Flagstaff Police
Department, were able to establish surveillance at the Greyhound bus
station. At approximately 1:40 pm, Sanders was positively identified
exiting the Greyhound Bus and was taken into custody by U.S. Marshal
deputies and Flagstaff Police Officers. During the arrest 3 guns were
seized as evidence and turned over to officers for further processing.
Sanders was booked into Coconino County Jail and
is awaiting extradition back to Georgia.
The Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force is
a U.S. Marshals Service led multi-jurisdictional fugitive apprehension
unit responsible for more than 1748 arrests in the last year. The task
force is comprised of 22 agencies bringing together the resources of
federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate and arrest
the community’s most violent offenders and sexual predators.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found
at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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