Harris campaign office damaged by gunfire in Arizona

TEMPE, Arizona — 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,” said the Tempe Police Department in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.

The office is shared by staff for the Arizona Democratic Party, the Harris campaign, and Senate and House campaigns, to boost turnout for the party in November.

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.

Local NBC affiliate KPNX previously reported the office had been damaged by gunfire.

Harris is returning to the state Friday, 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 was about 57,000 in 2023, a group that could prove a key constituency in a state that President Joe Biden won by only about 10,000 votes in 2020.

On Aug. 28, the Harris campaign held a campaign event in Tempe featuring Democratic Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost. The 27-year-old congressman rose to political prominence by focusing on gun control issues, and he made gun violence a cornerstone of his speech to ASU students while stumping 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 his home state 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.”