By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio police said today they are still investigating a Sunday night shooting outside a south Del Rio home after arresting one suspect shortly after the incident.
In an interview with The 830 Times, Del Rio Police Department Cpl. Dulce Gonzalez, the department’s public information officer, confirmed the police department received a “shots fired” call at 6:21 p.m. Sunday. The caller directed officers to an address in the 800 block of East Gutierrez Street, located in southeast Del Rio.
DRPD Detective David Lopez, who is in charge of investigating the case, said, “When the patrol officers first arrived, they met with the victim, who was in front of a residence there in the 800 block of East Gutierrez, and they called out for medical services.”
Lopez said an emergency medical services crew responded within two minutes, as they were nearby on another call and transported the victim of the shooting to Val Verde Regional Medical Center.
The injured man was identified as Alexis Rodriguez, 27, who lives in the 800 block of East Gutierrez Street.
Rodriguez was med-evaced by helicopter to a San Antonio hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries: three gunshot wounds, including shots to his upper torso and lower right leg, Lopez said.
Lopez said detectives have traveled to San Antonio to interview Rodriguez.
DRPD criminal investigators at the scene of the shooting interviewed a number of witnesses and discovered video footage “from one of the residences that showed the male victim standing in the street,” Lopez said.
The detective said the video also depicted a vehicle, later identified as a maroon 2022 Dodge Challenger, and “the driver of the vehicle could be seen discharging a firearm five times in the direction of the victim.”
Another man also got out of the vehicle, Lopez said, and after the shots were fired, the two men got back into the Dodge Challenger, and the vehicle sped away.
Lopez said a possible suspect was developed, and, about an hour after the shooting, detectives sought and obtained an arrest warrant for the driver of the Dodge Challenger.
The driver of the Challenger and alleged shooter was identified as Damian Chavez, 21, a resident of the 200 block of Dennis Drive.
Lopez said Chavez was taken into custody without incident and has been charged with the offense of attempted murder, a second-degree felony.
Lopez said detectives also obtained search warrants for Chavez’s residence and for the Dodge Challenger, which was seized as evidence.
Lopez said a search of the Chavez’s residence turned up a Glock 30 .45mm-caliber pistol, the gun police believe was used in the shooting.
DRPD Capt. Hubert Smith, who heads the police department’s criminal investigations division, praised the cooperation between agencies involved in the incident.
“Between our division and the patrol division, EMS, the fire department and the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office, which also helped us out, we were a good working team and we were able to get everybody together, and everything went pretty well,” Smith said.
Asked if he could comment about the circumstances that led to the shooting, Smith declined, saying, “We have several versions, and we’re still looking into it. We have an idea, but at this time we want to verify that, and we’re still waiting on the detectives that went to San Antonio to confirm with them as to what the victim said.”
Smith and Lopez said the investigation remains ongoing.
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