2020 Westgate Entertainment District shooting

2020 Westgate Entertainment District shooting
A CCTV still of the Westgate Entertainment District shooter in the parking lot
LocationWestgate Entertainment District, Glendale, Arizona
DateMay 20, 2020 (2020-05-20)
c.7:25 p.m.–7:48 p.m. (UTC−07:00)
TargetCouples at the Westgate Entertainment District
Attack type
Livestreamed shooting, electrical sabotage, incel terrorism
WeaponAR-15–style rifle
Deaths0
Injured3
PerpetratorArmando Hernandez Jr.
DefenderMichael Walker
Motive
Charges16 felonies
VerdictGuilty
Sentence44 years in prison

On May 20, 2020, an armed terrorist attack[2][3][4] took place in the Westgate Entertainment District, a mixed-use development in Glendale, Arizona, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Armando Hernandez Jr., shot a power transformer causing a local power outage, before opening fire on bystanders, injuring three people. During the attack, Hernandez recorded himself with a cellphone. The shooting ended when his rifle malfunctioned, prompting him to surrender peacefully to responding police officers. One victim was critically injured, while two others sustained less serious injuries.

Hernandez, a 20-year-old from Peoria, Arizona who identified as an incel, told investigators he deliberately targeted couples because he felt bullied and wanted respect. In 2022, Hernandez was sentenced to 44 years in prison.

Background

A few days before the shooting, Arizona's stay-at-home order, which was put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, expired on May 15, 2020, and was replaced with a new order.[5] The new order allowed restaurants and retail stores to reopen, as long as social distancing guidelines were put into place. The Westgate Entertainment District also announced that shops and restaurants were reopened.[5]

Shooting

Hernandez had surveyed the Westgate Entertainment District and then returned to his car to equip himself with a black AR-15–style rifle and loaded it with three rifle magazines to capacity,[6][7] he also wore a camouflage mask during the attack.[8]

Hernandez, now armed with a black AR-15–style rifle, proceeded to open fire on a power transformer outside of the Westgate Entertainment District, causing a power outage in the area.[7] At approximately 7:25 p.m. (UTC–07:00),[9] Hernandez wounded two people in front of a restaurant. A 309th Fighter Squadron aviation resource manager on the Luke Air Force Base, Michael Walker, who was nearby during the attack on the restaurant told customers and staff to barricade themselves in the kitchen. When Walker saw Hernandez walk away from the front entrance of the restaurant, Walker locked the doors and closed rolling security doors from the outside.[10] After leaving the restaurant, Hernandez wounded a woman in the parking lot. While the injured woman was on the ground in the parking lot, Hernandez said that "Society is bullshit." to which the woman responded with “I have nothing to do with that. You already shot me, dude!”[8] After his rifle malfunctioned, Hernandez surrendered to Glendale Police Department officers in the parking lot without any confrontation at 7:48 p.m. (UTC–7:00).[9][11][6][12][13][14] Hernandez filmed the attack with a cellphone in his left hand while shooting with his right.[15][12] During the shooting, a woman went into labour.[12][16]

Victims

The victims were a 19-year-old man who was critically wounded, a 16-year-old girl who was taken to the hospital with a non-life-threatening condition and a 30-year-old woman who did not require hospitalization.[15][17]

Perpetrator

The gunman was identified as Armando Hernandez Jr. (born July 1999),[18][19] a 20-year-old man from Peoria, Arizona. Hernandez graduated from Raymond S. Kellis High School.[20] After his arrest, he was taken to a Maricopa County, Arizona, jail and charged with 16 felonies.[21] In July 2022, he was sentenced to 44 years in prison.[22]

Hernandez claimed that he identified as an incel and a communist.[12] He stated in his police interview that he wanted respect for himself and he was deliberately targeting couples because he was bullied.[6][23][24] Hernandez's apparent tipping point occurred after he became enraged over the closure of an AMC Theatre and a Panda Express due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25][4]

The shooting was the subject of an episode of Dark Side, a true crime documentary series produced by KPNX (Channel 12), titled Dark Side: The Westgate Shooting.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ware, Jacob (2021). "Beta Uprising: Is there an Incel Threat to Asia?". Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses. 13 (2): 10–15. ISSN 2382-6444.
  2. ↑ Vandell, Bree Burkitt, Andrew Oxford, Helena Wegner and Perry. "'Armed terrorist' shoots 3 people at Westgate Entertainment District near Phoenix; shooter in custody, police say". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2026-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "The War Comes Home". www.jstor.org. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  4. 1 2 Dowd, Trone (2020-05-22). "Arizona Mass Shooter Who Live-Streamed Attack Was a Self-Described 'Incel' Targeting Couples". VICE. Retrieved 2026-08-29. During the suspect's first court appearance, on Thursday, Maricopa County prosecutor Edward Leiter told a judge that the defendant is the latest self-pitying terrorist to take out his frustrations over his inability to court women by carrying out an act of violence and had contemplated doing so for the last three to four years.
  5. 1 2 "At Least Three Shot in Arizona Shopping Mall, One Suspect in Custody". Newsweek. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
  6. 1 2 3 News, A. B. C. "Arizona mall shooting suspect appears to be INCEL, but motive still unclear: Prosecutors". ABC News. Retrieved 2026-07-30. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. 1 2 Stern, Ray (2020-05-22). "The Westgate Shooter Was an Incel Who Wanted Couples to Feel 'Pain'". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  8. 1 2 Gilbert, David (2020-05-21). "A Mass Shooter Live-streamed His Attack on Snapchat at an Arizona Mall". VICE. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
  9. 1 2 "At Least Three Shot in Arizona Shopping Mall, One Suspect in Custody". Newsweek. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  10. ↑ "Luke AFB Airman saves 28 lives in Westgate shooting". Air Force. Archived from the original on 2026-05-19. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  11. ↑ Stern, Ray (2020-05-22). "The Westgate Shooter Was an Incel Who Wanted Couples to Feel 'Pain'". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Stapleton, Erica. "Dark Side: The Westgate Shooting".
  13. ↑ "3 shot in newly-reopened Westgate Entertainment District outside Phoenix". CBS News. May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Arizona: three injured in shooting near shopping complex". The Guardian. Associated Press. May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Billeaud, Jacques; Tang, Terry (May 21, 2020). "Police: Man who shot 3 at Arizona complex felt bullied". WHEC-TV. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Surviving Westgate: Glendale mom goes into labor during shooting rampage".
  17. ↑ Stern, Ray (2020-05-22). "The Westgate Shooter Was an Incel Who Wanted Couples to Feel 'Pain'". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  18. ↑ Tesser, Zoe. "EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOXIC MASCULINITY AND EXTREME VIOLENCE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE INCEL SUBCULTURE" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "Defendant in Westgate Shopping Center Shooting from 2020 Sentenced". maricopacountyattorney.org. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  20. ↑ "3 shot after gunfire erupts in Arizona, suspect identified by family".
  21. ↑ "Suspect sought 'respect' in shooting of 3 at Westgate in Glendale, police say". The Arizona Republic. 21 May 2020. The suspect, Armando Hernandez Jr., was booked into a Maricopa County jail Thursday morning on suspicion of 16 felony charges.
  22. ↑ Staff, AZFamily Digital News; Bock, Holly (2022-07-08). "Man who shot 3 people at Glendale's Westgate sentenced to 44 years in prison". www.azfamily.com. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
  23. ↑ Villarreal, Daniel (May 21, 2020). "Westgate Shooting Suspect Was an 'Incel' Who Wanted to Kill Couples, Prosecutor Alleges". Newsweek.
  24. ↑ "Spring Provides Timely Reminder of Incel Violence—And Clarifies How to Respond". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - ICCT. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  25. ↑ Ware, Jacob (2021). "Beta Uprising: Is there an Incel Threat to Asia?". Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses. 13 (2): 10–15. ISSN 2382-6444.
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