APNewsbreak: Report details mass shooting in Ariz.

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By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press


Various Gilbert police officers and detectives wrote about what they saw at the home where they believe Jason Todd "JT" Ready, 39, shot and killed his girlfriend and three others, including a toddler, before killing himself May 2 in a domestic dispute.

Ready was the leader of the U.S. Border Guard, a group of armed civilians that patrols Arizona's desert for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.


When police walked to the home's open front door, they saw the bodies of Ready's girlfriend, Lisa Mederos, her daughter and her granddaughter, a 15-month-old named Lilly.




"I could see brain tissue and a pooling of blood next to her head," wrote Officer Veronica Roden. "Her arms and neck were still warm to the touch, and we both detected a pulse on the inner part of her upper left arm."


When officers went farther into the home, they heard a woman crying in a locked bedroom and kicked in the door. They found Lisa Mederos' 19-year-old daughter, Brittany Mederos. Because police had to clear the home, they forced Brittany Mederos to walk by the bodies of her mother and sister, and her dying niece.

"Upon entering the hallway, the female observed the bodies on the floor at which time she began crying hysterically," wrote Officer Chris Zamora. "I advised the female to 'Just keep walking' as I continued to escort her, stepping over the body of at least one of the female victims and around the other two victims."

Another officer described having to tell Lilly's father, Jess Boggs, that the toddler was dead. He arrived after the police tape had been put up around the home and surrounding houses.

"Jess showed me a picture of Lilly on his cellphone," wrote Officer Michael Cluff. "I immediately recognized the child as the same child I had observed within the house. Jess seemed to recognize my reaction to seeing the picture, and he began to wail and cry."

The other victim was Amber Mederos' boyfriend, Jim Hiott. Ready lived at the home with Lisa Mederos and Brittany Mederos.

One of Amber Mederos' friends, Cassandra Olivier, told police she thought Ready was angry because Amber Mederos, Hiott and their daughter wanted to move back into Lisa Mederos' home. Olivier said Ready was the one to make them move out in the first place when he moved into the house six months before the shooting.


Search warrant affidavits obtained by the Republic show federal agents seized numerous computers and munitions from Ready's home. The warrants imply weapons seized at the murder scene were stolen from the U.S. military. Focus on those weapons could trigger a larger federal investigation.




The first came from Lisa Mederos, who told the operator in a raised voice: "Oh my God. He's got a gun. No!" before the sounds of two shots.

In another call, a sobbing Brittany Mederos told a dispatcher: "My mom and my niece and my sister are all on the floor. They're hurt pretty bad."

She said that just before the shooting, she heard Ready and her mother "fighting and screaming" so she hid under her bed. "I come out and they're all on the floor and there's blood," Brittany Mederos said.
