Socorro police arrest 3 teens after gunshots hit house

Three teenagers were arrested for allegedly shooting an AR-15 style pistol that had residents on the floor trying to avoid being shot as gunfire hit a Socorro home last week, a prosecutor said.

Socorro police arrested Derek Xavier Gonzalez, Dante Puertas and Edmundo Justin Vizcaya, all 17, on charges of deadly conduct, officials said.

Under Texas law, persons 17 and older are considered adults in the criminal justice system.

No injuries were reported, but a bullet went through a window and other shots hit the outside of a house at about 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, near Apodaca Road and Trejo Road, according to Socorro police and a case summary given by Assistant District Attorney Kevin Marcantel at a bond hearing for Vizcaya on Sunday.

The people in the home "were terrified," Marcantel told Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun during the online teleconference hearing.

Socorro police officers responding to a call of shots being fired saw three teens running from the area with one of them holding a gun, Marcantel said. One was detained and two others ran into a house before they were also arrested.

An AR-15 style pistol was later found under the house, the prosecutor said.

The young men allegedly told police that they had been target practicing by shooting at an orange barrel.

It is against the law to shoot firearms inside city limits and at buildings.

Aun lowered Vizcaya's $30,000 bond to $15,000, and he was released from jail on a surety bond Sunday, according to El Paso County Jail records. Gonzalez and Puertas were released Saturday on a $50,000 surety bond and a $25,000 surety bond, respectively.