Oct. 8 – A Santa Fe man has been accused of seriously wounding another man with a gunshot at a home on Zia Road early Monday morning.
Juan Uribe-Torres, 29, faces one count of attempted murder and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.
Several witnesses told police they were at a home on Calle Pacifica when the suspect was accused of shooting a man in the stomach with a gun before turning it on others, investigators wrote in an affidavit.
The injured man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. His condition was “stable, but critical,” Santa Fe police Lt. Jimmie Montoya said Tuesday.
Police said Uribe-Torres fled the scene after the shooting, which happened after 3 a.m. Monday. Montoya said he had not yet been arrested.
Uribe-Torres previously lived in the home where the shooting occurred, police wrote in an affidavit, but he was kicked out about two months ago for “disrespectful behavior” toward other residents.
A couple told police they let Uribe-Torres into their bedroom through an open window early Monday morning, and the three sat and talked.
Uribe-Torres seemed “calm and normal,” the two women told officers, as he “vented” about “relationship problems.”
When another man and woman entered the room, Uribe-Torres stood up, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot the man in the abdomen, the two women told officers, according to the affidavit. The women had “consistent” stories, police wrote. They both said Uribe-Torres then pointed the gun at the man’s girlfriend, said, “I’m sorry – I love you” and then left the room and ran.
Police wrote that one of the women said she believed Uribe-Torres and the other man were getting along, and that they were “hanging out” two days earlier. The other mentioned that the shooting victim had accused Uribe-Torres of “stealing his wallet” two months ago, but she thought they had resolved the incident.
However, the man’s girlfriend told police a different story.
She claimed her boyfriend and Uribe-Torres had been arguing before Uribe-Torres fired the shot.
After they walked into the bedroom, the shooting victim’s girlfriend told investigators, she saw Uribe-Torres grab the handle of his gun as if he were trying to intimidate her boyfriend. She said she left the room and then returned to find her boyfriend on top of Uribe-Torres, punching him, police wrote.
The woman told officers she left the home and ran, fearing Uribe-Torres would shoot her as well, the affidavit said.
About a week before the incident, the woman told police that Uribe-Torres found her boyfriend’s wallet and returned it to him through someone else. Her boyfriend was “furious” that the wallet had not been returned directly to him, she said, and that items were missing when he received it.
Montoya said investigators were unsure whether a fight had occurred before the shooting, but that officers were working to verify witness statements and find Uribe-Torres.
“Right now we’re trying to confirm the information given to us at the scene and see if there’s anyone we haven’t spoken to or if anyone left before we got there,” Montoya said.
Police wrote in the statement that the injured man could not be questioned on Monday “due to his status”.
