'Porch Guy' Found? Murder Suspect Arrested After Standoff as Sleuths Spot Nancy Guthrie Link

Alex James Barnett, the Tucson murder suspect whom online sleuths have compared with the so-called 'Porch Guy' seen near Nancy Guthrie's home, was arrested after a three-hour SWAT standoff on the east side of the Arizona city on Monday night.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department said Barnett, 33, surrendered peacefully at an apartment complex near East Broadway and South Camino Seco.

He is accused in the killing of Tucson police recruit Carlos Ramirez and faces charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault. Barnett appeared via video in court on Tuesday and was held without bond, according to reports.

Authorities have not announced any connection between Barnett and the investigation into Guthrie's disappearance.

SWAT Standoff Ends With 'Porch Guy' Murder Suspect in Custody

The Pima County Sheriff's Department had released a public assistance alert featuring Barnett's photograph and urging residents to call in tips. By Monday evening, a lead brought officers to the apartment complex near Broadway and Camino Seco, where they believed the murder suspect was holed up.

Video later shared on Facebook captured SWAT officers outside the building, their voices booming over loudspeakers as they ordered Barnett to come out with his hands up.

Sheriff's spokesman Kevin Adger said the Pima Regional SWAT team and the regional Critical Incident Team took part in the operation, which lasted around three hours before Barnett surrendered without incident.

Adger told local media that no one was injured during the arrest. He declined to say whether Barnett had been armed inside the apartment, saying that detail formed part of the ongoing investigation.

No potential motive for the home invasion and shooting has been disclosed. Outside the complex, Barnett's relatives watched the siege play out in real time. 'My brother's safe, I'm just glad to know that,' his brother, Shane Barnett, said at the scene.

Shane, who said he had recently been released from prison and had not spoken to Alex in seven years, described how their father was brought in by officers to help persuade Barnett to surrender.

How the Murder Suspect Became the Focus of the Carlos Ramirez Case

Investigators had publicly tied three men to the killing of Ramirez before Barnett's arrest. Barnett was the first to be named by the Sheriff's Department in connection with the fatal shooting and the wounding of Ramirez's fiancée.

Another suspect, 39-year-old Santiago Jorge Rogers, was arrested on Saturday morning, 22 August, at a hotel on Tucson's south side, according to arrest information released by the department.

Rogers is being held at the Pima County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault, and court records say he has a criminal history that includes shoplifting, drug possession, criminal trespassing and harassment dating back to 2014.

A third man who authorities suspected might be involved was also located over the same weekend but was not placed under arrest, the Sheriff's Department has said. Officials have not publicly outlined his alleged role in the case.

Barnett, who the Arizona Daily Star reported has a court record including domestic violence, burglary, theft and child abuse, was the last of the trio to be found after what investigators described as a five-day manhunt.

In a video briefing, Adger said investigators 'thank the community', adding that tips from the public and the media had helped them bring the search to a conclusion.

Social Media Turns Murder Suspect Into Possible 'Porch Guy'

'Porch Guy' is the nickname internet sleuths gave to a masked man seen on doorbell camera footage at the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today presenter Savannah Guthrie.

Nancy disappeared on 1 February, when investigators believe she was abducted from her Tucson home. Detectives later released video of a figure approaching the property and interfering with the doorbell camera, and the FBI described the suspect as between 5 ft 9 in and 5 ft 10 in tall, with an average build.

When the Sheriff's Department released Barnett's wanted photograph on 21 August, some online users began sharing side-by-side comparisons between the grainy 'Porch Guy' still captured by Nancy Guthrie's security camera and the wanted photograph.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department has not announced any connection between Barnett, Rogers or the unidentified third man and the Guthrie investigation.

Tucson police and the FBI have also not publicly linked Barnett to the doorbell footage suspect. The warrant for Barnett's arrest was issued on Friday, 21 August, in connection with the killing of Tucson Police Cadet Carlos Ramirez.

Ramirez, 23, a former Pima County corrections officer, had been days away from graduating from the police academy and joining the Tucson Police Department. He was shot dead at about 6 am on 19 August in what investigators described as an apparent home invasion at his home in southwest Tucson. He lived there with his pregnant fiancée, a 23-year-old corrections officer, and their child.

According to the Sheriff's Department, his fiancée was shot in the shoulder during the attack, while the child was inside the property but was not reported injured.

Barnett's image was circulated in a police public assistance notice, prompting social media users to compare him with a masked man seen on doorbell camera footage outside the Tucson home of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today presenter Savannah Guthrie.

The resemblance claims have travelled quickly online, as these things often do, but there is no official evidence that Barnett is the man captured in the footage.

Barnett has a no-bond hearing scheduled for Monday, 31 August. The Nancy Guthrie inquiry, meanwhile, remains separate in every official account so far.