Gilbert police dodge questions on teen attacks, reopen 'Goon' case after Republic report

Gilbert police, despite dodging questions about a string of teen attacks, reopened a shelved investigation into the beating of a student by members of the "Gilbert Goons" the day after an Arizona Republic report.

The boy's father said Friday that police notified him the case was active again, months after it was set aside as "inactive pending additional investigative leads."

"Well, in fact, since media's helped, they have now assigned a detective to my case," Richard Kuehner said. "Go figure."

Kuehner, who sent his son to live overseas out of fear for his safety, expressed frustration over the police response to his son's attack, which he said the assailants filmed and posted on social media.

"I could have solved this myself," he said.

Brass knuckles, beatings, fear: Random attacks on teens loom over Preston Lord murder case

Gilbert's police chief did not explain why his department failed for more than a year to connect attacks on teenagers by the Goons gang.

Chief Michael Soelberg said victims of the attacks never specifically mentioned the name of the gang when they called police — and the department does not have police reports associating the Goons "to any alleged criminal activity."

The Republic first reported on the attacks, which were strikingly similar, often occurred at the same location, and involved similar victims and the same perpetrators, who posted photos and videos of beatings on social media.

Gilbert is ground zero for the Goons, a group of more than 20 mostly white, affluent teenagers who have left high school students hospitalized and traumatized. Southeast Valley parents and students, as well as community organizers, say members of the group were involved in the Oct. 28 fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord in Queen Creek.

None of the Goons has been arrested or named as suspects in Lord's case, which remains unsolved.

The "Goonies," as they sometimes call themselves, have carried out random assaults on teenagers in mall parking lots, outside fast-food restaurants, at parks and at house parties, according to interviews, court and police records and social media posts.

The Republic documented seven attacks involving members of the Goons, although several more are alleged by parents and students. At least four attacks occurred at the Gilbert In-N-Out Burger at San Tan Village Parkway and East Williams Field Road.

But police never put the attacks under the same umbrella or tied them to the Goons, interviews and court records show. Even when police arrested a Goon for two vicious attacks with brass knuckles in 2022, officers did not tie him to the larger group of assailants described by victims.

Police chief avoids interview requests; department posts webpage

Police officials did not answer questions about whether they were investigating the Goons. However, on Friday, they said they were actively reviewing assault cases.

The department launched a webpage Friday on "Teen Violence Investigations." The site features frequently asked questions about the attacks. In the FAQ, officials say, "We are actively reviewing our assault cases involving youth to see if there is any additional information or correlation between these incidents that can assist us with our past investigations."

Soelberg declined multiple interview requests. A department spokesperson said he was out of the office and unavailable on Friday.

Earlier in the week, Soelberg appeared to criticize parents and victims' actions in sharing information about assaults on social media, saying they should instead contact authorities "to avoid potentially creating online confusion or misinformation."

In the past week, the department issued seemingly contradictory statements about the attacks and the Goons.

A police official on Dec. 11 would not say if the department was aware of the Goons, only that it did "not have documented incidents associated with that group name."

On Dec. 13, the Gilbert Town Council said police were aware of social media posts about a group of Gilbert individuals "who have been targeting teens in the East Valley."

On Dec. 14, Soelberg used the term "Gilbert Goons" for the first time. He said the department became aware of it via "recent social media references." In a follow-up statement, a police spokesperson said they learned about the Goons "around the time" of Lord's death.

On Dec. 15, a town spokesperson said the department beefed up patrols this year at In-N-Out in response to assaults.

"Gilbert police officers noticed an increase of incidents of assaults involving juveniles at the In-N-Out in Gilbert," Jennifer Harrison said. "However, while the location was similar, according to our reports, each incident involved different individuals."

There were no documented references in reports about the Gilbert Goons, she said.

Kuehner and parents of other victims said they didn't know about the Goons at the time of the attacks and never would have known to report the group's name to the police.

Katey McPherson, a former teacher and school counselor who has organized #Justice4PrestonLord events, said she is frustrated with the police response. They are not acting proactively, she said.

"I don't love that kids who are being brutally beaten should have to come forward and report what happened," McPherson said. "Why is it on the victim to come forward and report when we have informed you about what is going on?"

Gilbert mayor won't talk, but Town Council members react

Mayor Brigette Peterson on Friday declined to comment and questioned why she was being contacted on her cellphone.

Peterson referred questions to a statement that her office put out, which expressed support for law enforcement and promised to find truth and seek justice for victims.

Aiming for conviction: Queen Creek police say they are working to gather 'proof beyond a reasonable doubt' in Preston Lord case

Councilmember Jim Torgeson on Friday condemned the attacks.

"It's not acceptable. Every one of them deserves to bear the full force of the law," he said. "They deserve even more than that, but that's probably the best we can hope for. The full force of the judicial system to come down on them."

Torgeson said the attacks have changed families' lives and said he was "appalled" that some of the attackers could be "our neighbor's kids."

He disputed claims on social media that the attackers were being protected by police or elected officials because of their wealth and connections.

Torgeson said he had full confidence in Soelberg, saying the chief was not taking the situation lightly.

"I know the rank-and-file guys are upset," Torgeson said. "They don't want to be seen as doing a poor job."

Councilmember Chuck Bongiovanni echoed Torgeson and said Gilbert police are "doing their best," adding more people should come out with evidence about the assaults.

Preston Lord's aunt: 'It's everything we haven't been able to say'

Preston Lord's aunt, Melissa Lord, shared The Republic's article on social media and said she was grateful for the report.

"It's everything we haven't been able to say," Lord said in a video on Instagram.

She said the family has been receiving information for weeks about the Goons but has refrained from sharing it.

"We've been getting this information for the last six weeks and haven't been able to say anything because we don't want to hurt the case in any way," she said. "So I'm glad it's out there, and people can start hopefully putting the pieces together."

Visibly upset and choking back tears, Lord said her family was reeling from The Republic's report and the accounts of victims.

"I'm just so tired of it … I'm just … it's not fair. I don't understand," she said. "It's been six weeks, and I know it's nowhere close to being over, but I'm so over it. It's a whole other level of grief. It's not fair. It's not fair to his parents and to his sister and to his grandparents and his cousins, me and his uncle."

More about the Lord case: What we know about Preston Lord, the Queen Creek teen fatally assaulted at party

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at [email protected] or 602-444-8694. Follow him on X @robertanglen.

Reach reporter Elena Santa Cruz at [email protected] or 480-466-2265. Follow her on X at @ecsantacruz3.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert police reopen 'Goon' attack case after Republic report