Reports of a firearm being used in a room at a hotel in the Las Palmas business park in Cotulla early Sunday morning, April 12, brought emergency responders who arrived to find a man suffering from a potentially fatal wound to the head.
Identified as a 38-year-old from Edinburg, Texas, the hotel guest had apparently used a handgun, according to the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office, which is being assisted in its investigation of the case by the Texas Rangers.
Preliminary reports indicate that 9-1-1 calls from the hotel shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday included some from guests who had heard the shot and one from the man’s wife, who told officers that her husband had shot himself.
Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Pargas was among the first at the scene on the second floor of the hotel and was joined by Investigator Guillermo Munoz. Both have indicated that the gunshot victim was alive and required immediate medical attention. The man was treated at the scene by medics of the La Salle Fire Rescue and then transported by ambulance to Frio Regional Hospital in Pearsall.
He was then airlifted to a military medical facility in San Antonio, where he is listed as being in critical condition.
“There is presently no indication of another party being involved in this,” La Salle Chief Deputy Homar Olivarez said of the case. “All indications so far are that this was a self-inflicted injury.
“The investigation will examine whether alcohol played a part in this, and will also examine the relationship dynamics between the man and his wife,” the chief deputy said.
