A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a double shooting in Weld County on Wednesday evening, which reportedly was sparked by a fight over two pit bulls.
Weld County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Margie Martinez said the 16-year-old was in custody, but deputies were still searching for a second suspect, 51-year-old Jose Rodriguez.
The shooting killed 43-year-old Hugo Botello-Gonzalez and left 45-year-old Olga Torrez in stable condition at North Colorado Medical Center with a wound to her upper torso.
The shootings were the culmination of a simmering dispute involving dogs chasing livestock, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The Sheriff’s Office raided a home early Thursday looking for the two suspects, but they already had fled, said Deputy Shane Scofield, another sheriff’s spokesman.
The 16-year-old was taken into custody later Thursday morning in the Fort Lupton area, Martinez said.
He was being held on suspicion of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The incident started Sunday when pit bulls owned by Botello-Gonzalez chased and harassed chickens, horses and cattle on a rural Weld County property outside Fort Lupton, officials said. The property is on Weld County Road 18, between Weld County roads 39 and 41.
Investigators said the victims and suspects live on the same property in separate homes about 40 yards apart.
Martinez told 9News that the two pit bulls were surrendered to deputies as dangerous dogs on Sunday and were later euthanized.
After Sunday’s dog incident, tensions simmered until the shootings about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the yard between the two houses.
Officials believe the two suspects are related, and Patricia Cook, who owns the property, told 9News the two suspects are father and son.
She said Botello-Gonzalez had worked for her for about five years.
“I don’t know what to say,” she told 9News. “He was a great guy.”
Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 970-356-4015.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
