Man accused of injuring two with shotgun

Police arrested and jailed a Tucumcari man after he was accused of injuring two people with a shotgun blast Saturday night after an argument in a south Tucumcari neighborhood.

Juan Rubio, 40, has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, all felonies, Tucumcari Police Sgt. Shaun Slate said on Monday.

The aggravated battery counts were the most serious charge — a third-degree felony that could lead up to three years in prison or a $5,000 fine.

Injured in the shooting that occurred shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday in the 1100 block of South Second Street were Toby Apodaca and a 17-year-old male juvenile, Slate said.

Apodaca was wounded in the foot, and the boy was wounded in the legs. The boy, taken away by ambulance, was treated and released from Trigg Memorial Hospital. Apodaca was treated at Trigg and transferred to a hospital in Amarillo.

Police Chief David Lathrom at the scene Saturday night initially reported one person was injured during the shooting. He said at the time that some details were murky because of the lack of cooperation from some parties involved.

Slate said two households got into an argument Friday about someone causing a nuisance in the neighborhood with a loud motorcycle.

The next night, an adult went to Rubio in an effort to resolve the spat, Slate said. Rubio went back into his house, retrieved a shotgun and pointed it at four people outside. Slate said Rubio shot the weapon twice, one of which wounded Apodaca and the boy.

According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Tucumcari magistrate court by Tucumcari police officer Herman Martinez, officers arrived at the scene to find one man on top of Rubio, wresting him, and a woman with her foot on the shotgun to keep anyone from shooting it.

An officer pointed his rifle at the parties to prevent either man from getting up with the shotgun and shooting anyone else with it.

According to the complaint, Rubio admitted consuming alcohol before the shooting. He was taken into custody that night.

Slate said Rubio had been on conditional release from gun charges in Guadalupe County.

Rubio was scheduled to make his first appearance in magistrate court Monday afternoon. No attorney was listed for him in online court records.