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Texas maintenance worker checking pipes shot dead after mistaken for burglar

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Cesar Montelongo, Grand Prairie, Texas maintenance worker shot dead mistaken for burglar
Cesar Montelongo, Grand Prairie, Texas maintenance worker checking pipes shot dead after mistaken for burglar by local resident.
Cesar Montelongo, Grand Prairie, Texas maintenance worker shot dead mistaken for burglar
Cesar Montelongo, Grand Prairie, Texas maintenance worker checking pipes shot dead after mistaken for burglar by local resident.

Cesar Montelongo, Grand Prairie, Texas maintenance worker checking pipes shot dead after mistaken for burglar by local resident at apartment complex.  

Texas maintenance worker was shot and killed at an apartment complex after a resident suspected he was a burglar attempting to break in.

Cesar Montelongo, 53, was checking the pipes at the Clayton Point Apartments on Alouette Drive in Grand Prairie on Christmas Eve, when he was observed by the resident. 

According to Grand Prairie police, Montelongo was standing on a balcony around 6 p.m. when the resident of that apartment noticed him, FOX 4 reported.

The resident, mistakenly believing his apartment was being burglarized, grabbed a gun and shot Montelongo through the window.

Officers arrived to find Montelongo lying on the balcony with a gunshot wound. The man was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Trigger happy? 

Detectives say he was checking frozen and broken waterlines after several pipes on the property had ruptured earlier.

The resident remained at the apartment and was cooperating with detectives, with authorities having not made no arrests in connection with the incident.

Not immediately clear is whether management had notified residents of the impending arrival of maintenance workers on the property. Or whether the resident gunman believed themselves to be in imminent danger. Or perhaps why they didn’t elect to notify authorities instead. Or perhaps a perceived bias towards Hispanic and Latin individuals as possible criminals.

The case remains under investigation and Grand Prairie police will refer the case to the Tarrant County grand jury to review.

Montelongo is survived by his wife and five sons. Christmas marked 29 years since his wedding, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his niece.

‘My uncle was murdered Christmas Eve in an act of senseless violence while at his place of employment,’ Kimberly Montelongo wrote on the fundraiser. ‘Today, on what was supposed to be his 29th marriage anniversary, he is being grieved by his 5 sons and loving wife. My uncle was a loving and hardworking man who gave his entire life for his family. His devotion to the Lord gave him strength.’

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