Jason Arroyo Denver, Colorado man charge with shooting Patricia Cruz dead over dispute of her grandchildren playing near yard.
A Colorado man is alleged to have shot and killed a woman over a dispute involving her grandchildren playing near his yard earlier this month on Labor Day according to prosecutors.
Jason Arroyo, 33, of Denver, was charged Tuesday for the shooting that killed Patricia Cruz, 55, and wounded two other of her relatives, KMGH-TV reports.
Neighbors told police the suspect shot the victims after confronting them about two children who were playing in an unfenced area behind the housing complex near West 35th Avenue and North Lipan Street.
Police said Arroyo became upset when Cruz’s grandchildren were playing Sept. 6 near his fence and threw water on them.
‘That’s when my mom came out and said, ‘Not today! You’re not going to do this with my grandkids,” Cruz’s son, Chris Lucero, told KMGH.
Gunfire rang out six times
Arroyo then went into his home, came back with a pistol and opened fire on the family, police said.
The gunfire rang out six times and struck the grandmother, Lucero and his daughter, Priscilla Denver CBS reports.
When officers arrived, they found two of the victims had been shot multiple times.
Cruz was brought to the hospital, where she died 11 days later from her injuries. The son and his daughter survived and have since been released from hospital after being hit by a barrage of bullets.
Arroyo fled after the shooting but was located by authorities hiding in an unlocked garage, police said.
Explained Cruz’s husband, Richard Casias, ‘She changed my world. She was everything to me. She was my angel. If I could take a bullet for her, I would have.’
Arroyo was on Tuesday charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of menacing, according to the district attorney’s office.
