Arrest made in Mountain View park shooting

MOUNTAIN VIEW >> A 19-yearold man has been arrested in connection with a shooting that wounded two people at a park in Mountain View, and authorities say a stolen puppy was a “crucial link” in the case.

Officers on Thursday arrested the suspect and recovered a gun believed to have been used in the shooting, the Mountain View Police Department said in a news release.

The shooting was reported at about 1 p.m. Wednesday at Rengstorff Park on the 200 block of Rengstorff Avenue. Officers arrived to find two people suffering from minor injuries. Two days before the shooting, an 8-monthold husky named Rambo was stolen from an apartment complex on the 300 block of Escuela Avenue, police said. The dog belonged to the shooting suspect’s family.

The man matched a suspect description provided by witnesses at the scene of the shooting, police said.

Rambo turned up Wednesday at a Redwood City restaurant, police said, where a worker recognized the puppy from a news report and called police, who retrieved him.

Detectives later confirmed the 19-year-old man was the suspect in the shooting. A preliminary investigation revealed he was in the park at the time of the shooting potentially looking for Rambo, police said.

“We are continuing to investigate a motive as to why he opened fire,” police said, adding that they are also continuing to investigate why the puppy was stolen. The man was booked into Santa Clara County jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and assault with a firearm.