{"id":646238,"date":"2026-03-10T19:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/646238\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T19:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:18:15","slug":"man-arrested-after-paintball-shooting-at-phoenix-mosque-involving-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/646238\/","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested after paintball shooting at Phoenix mosque involving kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phoenix police have arrested<\/a> 30\u2011year\u2011old Michael Abel Dominguez in connection with a paintball gun shooting<\/a> at a mosque involving children, police spokesperson Sgt. Lorraine Fernandez said.<\/p>\n

While working with the Street Crimes Unit, investigators reviewed surveillance and other evidence that identified a vehicle linked to the case and its registered owner, Fernandez said.<\/p>\n

During the arrest and subsequent searches, detectives recovered pellet\u2011style firearms consistent with those used in the incident, she said.<\/p>\n

Dominguez was booked into jail on multiple charges including an outstanding felony warrant, according to Fernandez.<\/p>\n

See the best images from what’s happening across Arizona<\/p>\n

1 of 60<\/p>\n

What happened during the attack?<\/p>\n

Around 2:30 a.m. March 7, officers responded to a report of a man shooting what appeared to be a pellet or paintball gun in the direction of the Islamic Center of North Phoenix near Thunderbird Road and 19th Avenue, according to Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Lorraine Fernandez.<\/p>\n

Multiple people saw “a suspicious vehicle” approach the mosque’s gate before a man, later identified as Dominguez, got out and pointed what initially appeared to be a firearm, Fernandez said. Several popping sounds prompted people to retreat to safety. The sounds were later determined not to be a firearm, according to Fernandez.<\/p>\n

Dominguez fired paintballs at the group upon returning to his vehicle, striking multiple parked vehicles before he fled, according to Fernandez. No one was injured, Fernandez added.<\/p>\n

Who was attacked?<\/p>\n

The Islamic center’s board shared a statement with The Arizona Republic, where they described those gathered outside the mosque as “youth” and “children,” while calling for acts of goodness. Mohamed El-Sharkawy, who is the founder and director of the Arizona Muslim Police Advisory Board, told The Republic that those at the mosque were gathered for late-night prayer during the period of Ramadan that concludes March 19 in Arizona.<\/p>\n

Children and families gathering at a mosque for Ramadan prayers should never have to fear being targeted, said Executive Director Azza Abuseif with the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.<\/p>\n

“Although we are grateful that no one was physically injured, an attack that appears to target a house of worship while children are present is deeply alarming,” Abuseif said in a statement. “We urge law enforcement authorities to investigate this incident thoroughly, including the possibility that it was motivated by bias.”<\/p>\n

CAIR-AZ called on law enforcement to investigate the attack as a possible hate crime, according to an email sent to The Republic.<\/p>\n

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego’s spokesperson, Todd Zubatkin, said police confirmed that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.<\/p>\n

How was the community recovering from the incident?<\/p>\n

El-Sharkawy organized a fast-breaking service March 8 at the mosque with congregants and officials from throughout the Valley in attendance, including Gallego.<\/p>\n

Children were playing on the basketball court as Gallego walked into the mosque courtyard. Women gathered to greet her, taking pictures with the mayor as she wore a traditional Islamic headpiece, similar to a woman standing beside her.<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego speaks with Islamic leaders outside the Islamic Center of North Phoenix on March 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

The energy in the mosque was euphoric during the service with the community joined together in prayer, seemingly unbothered by the events that unfolded the day before.<\/p>\n

“Ramadan is a time for community and reflection, and I think we’d all benefit from that,” Gallego said.<\/p>\n

Gallego also spoke with several Islamic Center of North Phoenix leaders outside of the mosque, sharing that there was no place for hate.<\/p>\n

“Everyone should be free to worship as you wish, and we want to be a community that welcomes people of all faiths,” Gallego said.<\/p>\n

The Republic’s Christian Cervantes and Jose R. Gonzalez contributed to this story.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Michael Abel Dominguez accused in Phoenix mosque shooting<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phoenix police have arrested 30\u2011year\u2011old Michael Abel Dominguez in connection with a paintball gun shooting at a mosque…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":646239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,34844,34843,274693,274694,1589,17042,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-646238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-fernandez","tag-lorraine-fernandez","tag-michael-abel-dominguez","tag-paintball-gun","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-police","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116206495871665396","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}