Arrest in rail station shooting
22-year-old charged with murder, attempted murder in Monday killing
Santa Fe police have arrested 22-year-old Matthew Arellano, who is charged with murder and attempted murder in the Monday afternoon shooting at the South Capitol Rail Runner station that left one man dead and sent another to the hospital in critical condition.
The body of David Hernandez, 24, of Pojoaque was found in a pool of blood on a bench on the train station’s platform after he was shot twice in his left side and stabbed twice in the back, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.
The second victim, a 38-yearold man, was shot three times in his abdomen and once in his arm, the affidavit said.
Hernandez leaves behind two young children. His family has organized an online GoFundMe campaign to raise money for funeral expenses.
Arellano was arrested Tuesday night in the 2000 block of Hopewell Street, Santa Fe police announced in a news release issued Wednesday morning.
In addition to counts of murder and attempted murder, he faces one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Arellano told officers he “shot both males in
self-defense” to protect himself and a friend who claimed Hernandez and the second victim in the shooting had jumped him and stolen his belongings, according to the affidavit.
Arellano and the friend got into Arellano’s Nissan Sentra and drove to the Rail Runner station to confront the two men, he told police. He said he “did not mean to kill anyone,” and initially went to the train station to engage in a physical fight.
When he and his friend approached the men, Arellano told police, Hernandez attempted to stab him and the second man pointed a revolver at him. He said he shot both men and also stabbed Hernandez, according to the affidavit.
One witness in an apartment complex across from the station ran down to help the men after he heard the gunshots. By the time he arrived, he found Hernandez dead on the bench, “holding a firearm.”
Arellano told police he shot the men with a revolver that could be found in his apartment, along with the knife.
Two women were with Hernandez and his friend moments before the shooting, the affidavit said. They told police they had seen Hernandez and a young man with a skateboard arguing over the price of methamphetamine.
The young man left, one woman said, but then two men came to the platform and began shooting at Hernandez and his friend. The women fled to the Department of Transportation building for safety, the affidavit said.
Other witnesses supported the woman’s account of the incident, saying they also had seen two men — one wearing a black hoodie and light pants and one wearing all black — run up to the north side of the platform and attack Hernandez and his friend, who were sitting on the bench.
The two men then got into a silver sedan and sped away, witnesses said.
Police found the Sentra parked outside Las Palomas Apartments on Hopewell Street. The car was registered to Arellano, and police saw a .22 Long Rifle bullet casing on the dashboard, according to the affidavit.
The man who was with Arellano during the attack is not yet facing charges and has not been named as a suspect in the shooting, but the police department was seeking him for questioning Wednesday, a news release said.