TEMPE, Ariz. — Police are investigating what appears to be gunfire damage overnight at a Democratic Party-coordinated campaign office for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The incident occurred just a few days before Harris is scheduled to visit Arizona as she campaigns for president.
“We can confirm that on 9/23/24, what appears to be damage from gunfire at … a DNC Campaign Office, was discovered,” Tempe police said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.
Tempe police said that officers responded Monday after calls from workers, and that they observed what appeared to be gunshots through the front windows of the office which is shared by staff members for the Arizona Democratic Party, the Harris campaign and Senate and House campaigns to boost turnout for the party in November.
“No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby,” Public Information Officer, Sgt. Ryan Cook said in a statement Tuesday.
The apparent gunfire marks the second incident of criminal damage at that office in recent weeks, according to Tempe police, who said that just after midnight on Sept. 16 the office’s front windows were hit with what appeared to be a BB gun or pellet gun.
Sean McEnerney, the coordinated campaign manager for the state Democratic Party, also confirmed the incident in a statement.
“Overnight, several shots were fired into our Tempe Democratic Party coordinated campaign office,” McEnerney said. No one was present or injured at the office, he confirmed.
NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix previously reported that the office had been damaged by gunfire and captured video from the crime scene that showed gunshots through the windows.
Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano said in a statement that it was "extremely sad that the Arizona Democratic Party has become the target of violence – it’s not who we are as Arizonans or Americans."
"We are working with law enforcement to ensure this threat is taken seriously and that our staff members are safe while they’re at work,” she added.
Harris is returning to the state Friday in her first trip there since her packed rally in Glendale on Aug. 9. At that rally, she tackled immigration head-on, outlining proposals to increase border security and create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. On this trip, Harris is considering making a stop at the border, according to two people familiar with her schedule. Her campaign declined to comment on that possibility.
The coordinated campaign office in Tempe is one of 18 field offices for the Harris campaign in Arizona, according to Patty Socarras, the state Democratic Party's communications director.
Tempe, a college town home to Arizona State University, will be critical if Democrats hope to win the state in November. Student enrollment at ASU, a group that could prove a key constituency in a state that Joe Biden won by only about 10,000 votes in 2020, was about 57,000 last year.
On Aug. 28, the Harris campaign held a campaign event in Tempe featuring Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. Frost, 27, rose to political prominence by focusing on gun control issues, and he made gun violence a cornerstone of his speech to ASU students as he stumped on behalf of the Harris campaign this summer.
“We still have to work at ending gun violence,” said Frost, who recounted the Parkland school shooting in Florida back in 2017. “We can work at creating a community where people don’t feel the need to use a gun to solve their problems in the first place.”
