One dead, one in custody following weekend shootings
Las Vegas Police responded to two shootings Saturday — a half hour apart — that left one man dead and a second in the hospital. The latest violence marks the city’s fourth shooting and third unsolved homicide in seven weeks.
Around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, LVPD responded to a call of a man shot outside a home in the 500 block of Perez Street, near Union Street. Police have identified the man shot as 39-year-old Gilbert Montoya of Las Vegas. Montoya was transported by ambulance to Alta Vista Regional Hospital with at least three gunshot wounds, including one to the stomach.
LVPD Cmdr. Steve Pacheco told the Optic Montoya was still being treated at Alta Vista and was in stable condition.
Police arrested Marcos R. Ruiz, 40, and booked him into the San Miguel County Detention Center on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to Pacheco, Marcos Ruiz is the brother or half brother of Arturo Ruiz, a man named as a person of interest in the unsolved June 15 homicide of Cruz Gallegos. However, Pacheco said it was unknown if this shooting was linked to the death of Gallegos.
“We have no idea right now,” he said. “We have very limited information and we’re just waiting for people to come forward. We’ve spoken to a lot of people and (have) very limited information we’ve been able to gather.”
According to a statement of probable cause filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court, the residence on Perez Street belongs to Montoya’s aunt, and Montoya showed up at her home after being shot. She told police Ruiz had shot Montoya, something police said Montoya confirmed.
As police were investigating, around 7 p.m., a call came into police dispatch of another man shot at a residence less than a half mile away, in the 600 block of Union Street.
According to court documents, Rosemarie Ruiz, Marcos Ruiz’s mother, called 911 and stated that a man was lying on her floor bleeding. Officers found an unresponsive man face down surrounded by blood. After checking the home for a possible shooter or other dangers to officers, police determined the man was dead.
Police detained and interviewed Rosemarie Ruiz who said Marcos Ruiz had been in the home with two friends, a man and a woman. The woman gave Rosemarie Ruiz a ride to an Allsup’s, later dropping her off at an undisclosed address. She told police she walked back to the home on Union Street, and when she arrived, she found the man who’d been at the home with Marcos Ruiz lying on the floor in blood.
Pacheco would not confirm to the Optic the name of the man killed, saying that he hasn’t been “positively identified” yet, but Pacheco said he did not believe there was any danger to the public.
In a Monday press release, LVPD said the victim was shot multiple times with an unknown caliber weapon.
“Minimal information has been gathered and officers are diligently following all leads,” the press release said.
Pacheco told the Optic that police do not know a motive for the shooting, that no suspects had been arrested and that police have not publicly identified any potential persons of interest.
“Right now we’re still looking at different people, names that have been thrown out, but that’s still part of the investigation,” he said.
Pacheco said no witnesses have come forward in either shooting and he wouldn’t say if the two shootings were linked.
“We’re not going to speculate as to links between the cases right now,” Pacheco said.
As of this writing, Marcos Ruiz was still in custody at SMCDC awaiting a court hearing.
