A statewide Blue Alert remains active for a 33-year-old man wanted after Carlos Ramirez was fatally shot at his home.
TUCSON, AZ — Arizona authorities are searching for a man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Tucson Police Department recruit Carlos Ramirez, who was killed at his home early Wednesday while his fiancée, a Pima County corrections officer, was wounded.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department obtained a first-degree murder arrest warrant for 33-year-old Alex James Barnett and identified him as a suspect in Ramirez’s death. The Arizona Department of Public Safety issued a statewide Blue Alert for Barnett late Thursday. Authorities consider him armed and dangerous. Investigators are also trying to identify two other men captured in surveillance footage as part of the investigation.
Deputies were called shortly before 6 a.m. Aug. 19 to a home on South Enchanted Spring Drive in the Tucson area. They found Ramirez and his 23-year-old fiancée suffering from gunshot wounds. Ramirez was pronounced dead at the scene. His fiancée was taken to a hospital with injuries authorities said were not life-threatening and was reported in stable condition. Her name has not been released.
Ramirez had previously worked as a corrections officer for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department before joining the Tucson Police Department as a recruit. He had completed 23 weeks of academy training and was scheduled to graduate from the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center on Aug. 27. Tucson police said his death was deeply felt by his classmates, instructors and the department.
Sheriff Chris Nanos said Friday that investigators were examining robbery as a possible motive, but he stopped short of presenting that conclusion as settled. Detectives have continued collecting evidence and examining the movements of people believed to be connected to the shooting. Authorities have not publicly described what, if anything, was taken from the home, and they have not announced a final motive.
Investigators recovered a gray SUV believed to have been used in connection with the shooting. The vehicle, described earlier as an Acura MDX, was found in a parking lot near South Palo Verde Road and East 33rd Street. Surveillance footage released by the Sheriff’s Department shows Barnett with another unidentified man at a Shell gas station on West Valencia Road near Casino del Sol at about 5:20 a.m. Wednesday, according to authorities.
A separate surveillance recording shows another unidentified man getting out of the SUV in the parking lot where investigators later recovered it. That recording was made at about 10:50 a.m. Wednesday. The Sheriff’s Department released images and video of both unidentified men as detectives sought information about who they are and what role, if any, each may have had in the shooting.
The Blue Alert describes Barnett as 6 feet, 2 inches tall and about 315 pounds, with a bald head, brown eyes and distinctive arm tattoos. State authorities said he was last seen wearing a red shirt and black biker vest and was associated with a maroon 2020 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The alert was issued across Arizona as authorities widened their effort to locate him.
Authorities have not announced arrests in the case, and the two additional men shown in surveillance footage had not been publicly identified as of Saturday. The investigation remains active, with Barnett wanted on the murder warrant and law enforcement agencies continuing the search for information about the other people seen in the released recordings.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 22, 2026.