Suspect shot, killed man who was checking his mail in Chandler: police
Son of man gunned down at mailbox remembers his dad as a hero, protector
A Valley family is left heartbroken and confused over a senseless murder after 58-year-old Matthew Miller was shot and killed in Chandler while checking his mail. Andrew Miller, his son, says he and his siblings are still trying to process what happened.
CHANDLER, Ariz. - Police say a suspect accused of shooting and killing a man in a Chandler neighborhood has been arrested. A neighbor thinks he was shooting at anything that moved.
According to police, officers responded to a shooting just before 5 p.m. on April 3 near Hunt Highway and Cooper Road and found 58-year-old Matthew Miller, who had been shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"He was in his vehicle with his wife and had stopped to check their mail when confronted by the suspect, who opened fire on them," police said.
Miller's wife was not hurt and dialed 911.
The suspect, 31-year-old Channing Vanderbilt, stayed at the scene and was "behaving as a bystander" when police arrived. He was arrested. Police said Vanderbilt lives near where the shooting took place.
Police said officers responded to a call nearby earlier the same day after a resident reported that someone had shot at his block wall. There were no witnesses to the shooting and no evidence was found, but investigators are working to determine if it is related to the deadly shooting.
Suspect picked up shell casings as ‘souvenirs,' court documents say
Channing Vanderbilt, 31, is accused of shooting and killing a man who was checking his mail in a Chandler neighborhood.
According to court documents, Miller's wife said she and her husband heard "popping" sounds right before they checked their mail.
She said she then saw Vanderbilt grab a rifle from a truck that was parked on the street, and open fire on them.
"The husband pushed his wife's head down, telling her to get down as their vehicle was being shot at numerous times as the vehicle rolled forward," court documents read.
Investigators say a rifle was found in the same truck that the victim's wife saw Vanderbilt go to before the shooting.
Truck keys and shell casings were found on Vanderbilt when he was taken into custody. Police say the casings were consistent with the ones that were found at the scene.
While being questioned by police, Vanderbilt claimed he has been targeted over the past several years and said he was in his home with his mother when he heard gunshots.
Vanderbilt said he ran to the victims and asked if the wife was OK.
"She told him she had been shot and was calling 911," court documents read.
Vanderbilt told police he picked up shell casings from the scene "as souvenirs," but denied being involved in the shooting, court documents read.
"Vanderbilt advised he did not own any guns and believed someone placed it in his vehicle without his knowledge," court documents read.
Vanderbilt was booked into jail and is accused of multiple charges, including first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Neighbors react to shooting
Paul Adams is reliving the horrifying moment when he saw his neighbors get gunned down by another neighbor.
"I just pulled into the driveway, and I was walking up to the door and heard the shots only sounded like six or seven shots," he said. "There’s no reason to pull a piece on somebody that hasn’t even said anything to you. The guy is just getting his mail."
For neighbors Joan and her husband Jim, they are trying to pick up the pieces where they can.
"You can see here, they’re big holes. They’re all this big. There’s one here, there’s one way down here, and this one down here is really, really big. We've put tape over because they’re so big – we don’t want all of the mess," Joan said.
They suffered six of those stray bullets to their windows across the street.
"I was very fortunate we weren’t here … because I think he was aiming at whatever moved. I just feel like that’s what he was doing," Joan said.
Map of where the shooting happened: