Guadalupe Villanueva Arrested After Double Shooting Over Handicapped Parking Spot
DENVER (CBS4) - A 19-year-old man is under arrest in Texas and will face charges after a double shooting on South Federal Boulevard in Denver a month ago in which a man was hurt and a young girl was critically injured. Guadalupe Jose Villanueva was arrested four days ago in El Paso and will be extradited back to Colorado.
Police announced the arrest on Thursday and said tips from the public helped lead them to Villanueva. They also said for the first time that the toddler is expected to survive. She remains in critical condition at the hospital after the Dec. 28 shooting.
Villanueva is being held on charges that include attempted murder and assault. Police believe he was the person wearing red flannel pajamas and a black hoodie who left a business in a shopping center on the 2900 block of South Federal that afternoon and started shooting at another man taking pictures of a car. The car was believed to be the suspect's and it was parked in a handicapped parking spot with its tires up on the curb.
The wounded man had to go to the hospital and is recovering from his injuries and the young girl was nearly killed when she was caught in the crossfire. Police said she was in a car nearby in the parking lot at the time and had no relation to either the shooter or the person who was shot.
Earlier this month Lt. Matt Clark of the Denver Police Department described it as a "sad and senseless case."
Neither of the victims' names have been released.
Colorado criminal records show Villanueva was arrested last spring after a double murder on South Tennyson Street but never officially charged. His criminal record includes some misdemeanor weapons violations in 2019.
