Man apprehended in shooting

A Tucumcari man accused of pulling a gun on another man and firing as he drove away down a street was apprehended after being at large for a month.

Quay County Crime Stoppers had offered up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Jacob Ramirez, 28, was taken into custody by a Tucumcari police officer and booked into the Quay County Detention Center the morning of May 27. Police Chief David Lathrom said the officer arrested Ramirez as he was walking down a Tucumcari street.

Ramirez was charged in an April 28 complaint in Tucumcari magistrate court with two counts of shooting at or from a motor vehicle (no injury) and one count of assault with intent to commit a violent felony (with intent to kill).

The two counts of shooting from a vehicle are fourth-degree felonies that can lead up to 18 months in prison and a fine up to $5,000. The assault charge is a third-degree felony can lead up to three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.

According to the complaint filed by city patrolman Herman Martinez, officers the evening of April 28 were called to Jackson and Main streets about a shots-fired call.

After talking with Ramirez, who acknowledged having an argument with another man but denied hearing shots nor having a gun, officers went to the 400 block of Aber Street, where they found a bullet hole in the passenger-side window of a parked pickup truck. They later found the bullet in the driver’s seat. They found a spent brass casing from a .380-caliber pistol near the street.

A victim said he and Ramirez had argued. Ramirez pulled out a handgun, pulled back the slide to place a round in the chamber and pointed it at him. The victim said he told Ramirez, “Shoot me. I am right here; shoot me.” Ramirez did not pull the trigger.

As the victim drove off towards his house, he said Ramirez shot at him. The bullet missed him and hit the parked pickup truck.

A woman who knew Ramirez said he had a .380-caliber handgun. She said Ramirez contacted her by phone, and “he said he just shot at (the victim) and he needed her to come for him.” She said she also had text messages that referred to the shooting.

No attorney was listed for Ramirez in online court records.