Suspect Charged in Arizona Freeway Shootings

— -- Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. has been charged in connection with a string of shootings on Interstate 10 in Arizona that terrorized a community and made drivers reluctant to hit the road, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Merritt faces 16 felonies, including five counts of aggravated assault, four counts of drive-by shooting and three counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm. Terrorism charges were dropped, authorities said.

Merritt was arrested Friday, according to a spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey. At a news conference, Frank Milstead, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said that Merritt, 21, was allegedly linked to four shootings that took place on Aug. 29 and 31 "because the weapon that he owned is forensically linked to these crimes."

Since Thursday, authorities had been investigating at least 11 separate shooting incidents along Arizona's heavily traveled I-10 as some terrified motorists said they were simply avoiding the highway. On Tuesday, authorities released new 911 calls, some of which included residents in the area calling in eerie descriptions of a roadside gunman.

"It's a tip," one male caller says during one 911 call. "There was a guy on his bike. ... He was fully strapped. ... He had a 9 millimeter on his hip and he had an AR-15 on the bike. I don't know if that's normal. ... I've never seen anybody on a bike strapped like that. ... I honestly stopped to try and talk to him. ... He looked like he was on his way to a mission. ... I'm scared."

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said Friday that Merritt is the suspect in at least four incidents. Authorities said they continued to investigate the other seven incidents.

Merritt was ordered held on $1 million cash bond, but protested to the judge, saying police have "the wrong guy."

Investigators checked pawn shops for guns matching the caliber of shell casings at the shootings, police said, and when a gun pawned by Merritt was test-fired it was determined to be a match, authorities said.

On Sunday, Merritt's father, Leslie Merritt Sr., told ABC News that police were looking for a scapegoat. He maintained that his son had purchased two guns and then pawned them for household needs.

"Do I believe my son had anything to do with it? Absolutely not. I will support my son and defend my son with every ounce of my being," he said. "[The police are] snatching anybody that's reported to have a 9 millimeter [handgun], might have pawned one and they're grasping at straws and they're looking -- for lack of a better term -- [for] a scapegoat."