Youths trade shots in west-side brawl

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TWO SUSPECTS SO FAR;

POLICE INVESTIGATE RUNNING GUN BATTLE

A juvenile has landed behind bars in Victoria County this week after a shooting in a Pearsall west-side neighborhood on Friday, Sept. 23.

Police say emergency dispatchers received calls regarding gunshots twenty minutes after midnight Friday, and callers indicated that two vehicles were seen quickly leaving the scene.

While officers were responding to the initial call, a second call was received regarding a vehicle that had been struck in the shooting. According to a police report, officers arrived at a home on Brazos Street and found a vehicle that appeared to have been hit by gunfire.

An apparent victim was inside the vehicle when the shooting occurred, according to investigators.

Police were able to locate a second car on Vinton Street and discovered three gunshots through the passenger side of the windshield.

“A short time later, a juvenile exited the home and he was the one shooting,” the police report read.

The suspect reportedly told officers that he was sitting in his vehicle outside a home on Vinton Street when a car drove by and its driver fired two or three shots towards his car.

The suspect followed the car and the pair began to shoot at each other as they traveled through residential neighborhoods that included Colorado, Brazos and Tafolla streets.

The driver was later identified as 17-year-old Roberto Andrade.

The juvenile suspect was arrested by officers and processed by juvenile probation officers before he was transported to a facility in Victoria County.

During a follow-up interview on Tuesday, October 4, Andrade allegedly admitted to investigating officers that he had discharged the firearm towards the residence near the intersection of Vinton and Brazos streets.

According to a police report, Andrade told officers that an altercation had taken place at a park in Pearsall on Sept. 23 and that he had returned to check on his girlfriend. He reported that a group of people then approached him and his girlfriend and that he had fired several rounds at them.

Andrade allegedly told officers that the firearm he used to shoot at the group could be the same weapon used by the juvenile whom police had in custody.

A warrant has been issued for Andrade on a third-degree felony charge of deadly conduct by discharging a firearm.

“The police are working extremely hard with this type of case to ensure an arrest is made,” Cpt. Michael Guerrero said. “This is not acceptable by any means. We are hoping that the hard work that the officers are putting into these cases puts an end to these acts of carelessness. We are grateful that no innocent bystanders were struck by gunfire from this individual.”

The department is asking the public to report witnessing any criminal activity.

“It does not matter if it is seen on social media or in person,” the captain said. “Call us, and we will do our best to investigate it.”