PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Newly obtained court documents are revealing more about what led up to a deadly shooting at a north Phoenix apartment complex early Saturday morning.
Phoenix police arrested Craig Poorthunder, 42, on accusations of second-degree murder after a man was found dead near 19th and Northern avenues just before 2 a.m.
Arresting documents showed that officers responded to the apartment after Poorthunder allegedly reported that he had shot the victim, who remains unidentified, in the stomach and upper right chest. At that time, he said he was not breathing and had no pulse.
When officers arrived, they told Poorthunder to step outside of the apartment, to which he complied and explained to the authorities that his girlfriend was inside the apartment in a bathtub with the victim inside.
Moments later, police took Poorthunder into custody and found the victim unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest, the documents read. Poorthunder’s girlfriend was also taken to the hospital for drug or alcohol impairment.
Craig Poorthunder was arrested and booked into jail on murder charges for a deadly shooting on Nov. 15, 2025.(Arizona’s Family/Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
Court paperwork revealed that once arrested, Poorthunder reportedly told investigators that he had used an AR-15 style rifle and had unloaded it in the bedroom.
Detectives later spoke with Poorthunder’s cousin, who said he had received a call from the victim, who asked to pick him up, and asked if it was okay to bring the victim to “hang out.”
During the meet-up, police said the victim, Poorthunder and the girlfriend were drinking alcohol together before the victim and girlfriend went to the front balcony and started to talk. It’s at that point, the cousin said, that Poorthunder showed “jealous behavior,” and the cousin said he heard a gunshot when the victim reported being shot.
Police attempted to speak with the girlfriend, but she stated that she was unable to remember what had happened or how she ended up at the hospital.
Later that morning, investigators again interviewed Poorthunder, who said that he had been drinking but “only had two drinks,” according to court paperwork. In that interview, he said he felt more intoxicated than usual, and that his girlfriend said he was not feeling well. At that point, they went to the bedroom and left the victim and the cousin in the living room.
After a while, the girlfriend went to the bathroom, and Poorthunder went to check in on her, but she was reportedly found unresponsive with the shower on, and that’s when the cousin and victim entered the bathroom and they would help the girlfriend, who had been found naked in the shower. Poorthunder then fell onto the bed and rolled to the floor, where he was next to the rifle, so he saw it and loaded it.
Court documents stated that Poorthunder alleged that the victim approached him, and that’s when he shot the victim. When asked why, he said he thought the victim was going to “rape” the girlfriend, but didn’t elaborate on why he felt that. Authorities said Poorthunder’s story contradicted that of his cousin’s, saying the way he remembered it “was different.”
Detectives also asked him about the broken glass from the balcony window, which he couldn’t explain, but officers described as having a “bullet strike to the glass,” the paperwork stated.
Poorthunder was booked into the Maricopa County jail on a $1 million cash-only bond.
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