Gypsum man's condition remains serious after Friday night shooting

By Steve Lynn
April 29, 2008

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DOTSERO, Colorado - A Gypsum man who was likely unarmed when he took a shotgun blast to his abdomen Friday remained in serious condition Sunday, the Eagle County Sheriff's Office said.

Witnesses told investigators that several people had been involved in an argument and a fistfight at an outdoor party attended by around 20 people about two miles up a dirt road that climbs the mountains next to a Dotsero trailer park, the Sheriff's Office said.

A sport utility vehicle was fired on with a shotgun three or four times about midnight Friday after the fight near the Dotsero volcano, the Sheriff's Office said. Luis Landeros, in his early 20s, was standing outside the stopped vehicle when he was shot, the Sheriff's Office said. It's unclear why Landeros was standing outside the vehicle.

"We have no indication that anyone in the victim car had any kind of weapon," said Lt. Mike McWilliam, of the Sheriff's Office.

Friends took Landeros to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, McWilliam said. Three other people were with that vehicle at the time of the shooting, which happened a half-mile from the party after the vehicle that Landeros was in left. The shooter caught up with them in another vehicle, the Sheriff's Office said.

Landeros' bladder and intestines were injured, but he was expected to recover, McWilliam said. Some of the pellets from the shotgun blast were removed, and some were left in his abdomen, McWilliam said.

Landeros could be kept in the hospital for four days, McWilliam said.

The Sheriff's Office has recommended that Edgar Lozoya-Cardenas, 24, and Oscar Martinez-Huerta, 22, both of Avon, be charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault in connection with the shooting, McWilliam said. The Sheriff's Office is investigating Cardenas' and Huerta's roles in the shooting, he said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will determine whether the suspects, both born in Mexico, are illegal immigrants, McWilliam said.


'Driving to get away'
Yolanda Martinez's 23-year-old son, James Lara, drove Landeros to the hospital.

"Around here, I never thought something like that could happen," Martinez said.

She said Lara told her he was with Landeros listening to music in his SUV near the volcano. Landeros told some other men to pick up beer bottles they had left on the ground, Martinez said.

"We've heard that story," said McWilliam, who said he didn't know how the fight started.

Lara got out of the vehicle to go to the bathroom when someone started hitting him, Martinez said. Somehow, he got back in the vehicle and the men fled as they were shot at, she said.

Lara told her so many shots were fired, "he couldn't count" them, Martinez said.

"They were just driving to get away," she said.

She said Lara didn't know the suspects.

Martinez wished the shooting had never happened, but she's thankful that at least her son and his friend weren't shot, she said.

Lara did not return a telephone message requesting comment Sunday night.

Juan Ramirez, like some Dotsero residents who live in the trailer park north of Interstate 70, said he had not heard of the shooting Sunday. Daniel Daurte, a 15-year-old who lives in the trailer park, said he hadn't heard the news, either.

"That's pretty bad, I guess," Daurte said about the shooting.

Ramirez and Daurte said the volcano is a popular place for partygoers to gather Friday and Saturday nights. Dozens of beer bottles littered the volcano Sunday afternoon.

Ramirez said he wasn't worried about living in the trailer park after the shooting.

"I don't go up there on Friday nights," he said.


After the shooting
After hearing accounts from witnesses Friday night, sheriff's deputies told other law enforcement agencies to look out for the sport utility vehicle suspected in the shooting, the Sheriff's Office said.

Avon Police stopped the vehicle and detained Cardenas and Huerta and one juvenile male, the Sheriff's Office said. A 12-gauge shotgun was found in the vehicle, McWilliam said.

The juvenile male, a witness to the shooting, was released to his father afterward, McWilliam said.

The Sheriff's Office is looking for people who knew what was going on before and after the shooting, McWilliam said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 970-328-8500 or remain anonymous by calling Eagle County Crime Stoppers at 970-328-7007.

Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 970-748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.