Man jailed in Senda del Valle street shooting
A shooting that left a man hospitalized in early December might have involved a stolen firearm, according to a criminal complaint filed in Santa Fe County this week.
After Santa Fe police traced the registration of a car found near the shooting scene to Flavio Gonzales Jr.’s mother, they found a semi-automatic handgun in Gonzales’ room that was reported stolen in October, the complaint states.
Santa Fe police arrested Gonzales, 19, on Tuesday on one count each of aggravated assault and retaining a stolen handgun.
Gonzales remains in custody; his first court appearance, set for Wednesday, was rescheduled to Thursday.
The shooting victim, 42, saw an unfamiliar man and woman walking past his apartment in a multifamily home in the 1200 block of Senda del Valle the night of Dec. 1, the criminal complaint states.
He told them to leave “because they do not belong here,” according to the complaint, and followed the pair as they walked toward another apartment instead.
The man who was walking, later identified as Gonzales by police, then pulled out a gun and began to shoot, the complaint states. The victim was shot in the hand as he tried to block his face, then was shot in the legs as he ran back to his apartment.
Police later found 10 hollow-point and aluminum 9 mm bullet casings in the area, along with items belonging to two people who had reported car burglaries that week on West Alameda Street.
An officer in the area found a white Toyota later that night, its hood still hot to the touch, the criminal complaint states. Police found it was registered to Gonzales’ mother.