Police in Oregon made arrests connected with a shooting at an In-N-Out Burger.
Keizer Station police arrested two men Thursday who were allegedly involved in the February shooting; a third suspect is still at large. The shooting wounded two people, including the father of a family of four, who was able to take himself and his family safely to a local hospital despite having a bullet lodged in his skull.
According to a
press release on Facebook, officers with the Keizer Police Department executed a search warrant in Salem at around 4 a.m. Thursday morning, with assistance from the Salem Police SWAT unit. They arrested 20-year-old Ethan Adrian Armenta-Lagunas and took him into custody on charges of Assault in the First Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, and Recklessly Endangering Another Person. Police recovered multiple firearms in the search, including a heavily modified pistol, two drum magazines, and a second handgun.
Later that same morning, Keizer police and the Marion County Sheriff's Office conducted a second arrest in Salem. They arrested 18-year-old Gabriel “Alex” Javier on charges of Assault in the First Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, and Recklessly Endangering Another Person. The two suspects were both booked into the Marion County Correctional Facility.
A third suspect, 22-year-old Anthony Taylor-Manriquez, also of Salem, still has an outstanding warrant for his arrest by the Keizer Police Department; he is considered armed and dangerous.
The shooting itself took place on
Feb. 9. According to a press release from the time, at around 10:15 that night, a family of four—a father, mother, and children ages 7 and 2—was exiting an In-N-Out Burger restaurant at an intersection when the suspects opened fire. The family's windows were shot out and the father of the family received a gunshot wound to the head. Fortunately, he was able to drive himself and the family to a nearby fire station, where he was attended to by medical staff and taken to a local hospital for treatment.
A second victim was identified by police when he arrived at the same hospital with a wounded leg. Both victims' injuries were considered serious but non-life-threatening.
The victim with the head wound was later identified as Mario Garcia. A
GoFundMe started by Garcia's wife, Julissa Cruz, stated that the bullet lodged itself in Garcia's skull; fortunately, he avoided sustaining any major brain damage. The bullet remained there for more than two weeks, until surgeons successfully removed it on Feb. 27.
"In the middle of chaos and fear, while he was injured and in pain, he somehow found the strength to drive us out of the scene to safety," Cruz wrote. "He protected our family before thinking of himself. That is the kind of man and father he is."
