Bethlehem police arrest 21-year-old in Pembroke shooting
Bethlehem police have arrested a 21-year-old man who they say shot into a car parked in the city’s Pembroke housing development last month and seriously injured two men.
An arrest warrant for charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and weapons offenses was issued earlier Wednesday for Luis Daniel Ortiz Montoza. Police say Ortiz Montoza opened fire on two men around 7 p.m. Sept. 30 in the 1200 block of Dover Lane.
Ortiz Montoza’s last known address was on West Franklin Street in Bethlehem.
According to the court records:
A witness told police they saw Ortiz Montoza arguing with one of the injured men, who later said, “You want to fight this out or shoot this out?”
A moment later, the witness saw Ortiz Montoza pull out a gun and fire multiple times into the vehicle.
Police found a man with multiple gunshot wounds in the 1200 block of Pembroke Road. The man had been shot in his chest, arms and right eye.
He was transported to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, where he was rushed into surgery.
Emergency room staff told Bethlehem police that another man had just arrived with a
gunshot wound to his shoulder from the same scene.
Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said at the time that both men were seriously wounded, but expected to survive. The shooting came within 24 hours of violence elsewhere in the city, when a 17-year-old was killed during a drug robbery in Bethlehem’s Saucon Park.
Authorities urged anyone with any additional information, especially audio and video recordings from that night, to contact Bethlehem police at 610-997-7674 or on the tip line at 610-691-6660. All callers can remain anonymous.