Police: Second man present during incident arrested on unrelated warrant
Authorities to question 20-year-old who allegedly said he’d been jumped
Santa Fe police on Thursday arrested a man they believe was at the scene of the fatal shooting Monday at the South Capitol train station.
Travis Whaler, 20, was taken into custody around 1 p.m. in the 1700 block of Hopewell Street on an unrelated arrest warrant, the Santa Fe Police Department said in a news release.
According to Deputy Chief Paul Joye, Whaler had been wanted on a 2020 grand jury indictment charging him with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and larceny. He was booked into the Santa Fe County jail without bond.
Whaler is not facing any charges in connection with the Monday afternoon shooting that killed 24-year-old David Hernandez of Pojoaque and critically injured 38-year-old Elijo Trujillo, the news release said.
However, police had been seeking Whaler for questioning in the shooting.
Court records said Matthew Arellano, 22, who has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the incident, told police Whaler had arrived at his home that day and asked for help, claiming Hernandez and Trujillo had jumped him near the train station.
Arellano said he and Whaler went to the station to confront the two men but then shot and stabbed them in self-defense after Trujillo pulled out a revolver, an arrest warrant affidavit said.
Multiple witnesses told officers they had seen a young man attempting to make a drug deal with Hernandez and Trujillo before Arellano and another man arrived at the station and shot the pair, according to police reports.
Witnesses said the men had been haggling over the price of methamphetamine — the seller wanted $15, while the buyer wanted to pay $5, reports said. But the reports do not mention any statements from witnesses about the young man being harmed or robbed.