The El Paso Police Department arrested a teenager accused of wounding two people when he fired a handgun into a crowd during an East Side house party.
Jonathan Josue Sifuentes, 17, faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a shooting on the Saturday night of May 16 at a home in the 10800 block of La Subida Drive in front of Vista Hills Elementary School, court documents stated.
In the Texas criminal justice system, defendants aged 17 and older are considered adults.
2 wounded in shooting at East Side house party
Investigators with the Gang Unit learned from witnesses that Sifuentes and three companions showed up to a party and an altercation took place between the group and other partygoers, according to criminal complaint affidavits filed by police obtained by the El Paso Times.
During the fight, Sifuentes allegedly pointed a handgun into a crowd and fired one shot — a bullet hit a woman in the hip, and another woman was struck by shrapnel that caused swelling and cuts to her left wrist, the affidavit stated.
The shooting occurred at about 10:45 p.m. and the Gang Unit was called to the scene, where officers interviewed several witnesses, viewed home security camera footage of the incident and learned the names of Sifuentes’ friends, the affidavit stated.
The following Monday, May 18, gang investigators worked with Socorro Independent School District police to identify and locate one of Sifuentes’ companions at a school, the affidavit stated. The school is not named in documents.
During interviews conducted at the Texas Anti-Gang Center (TAG) in El Paso, witnesses allegedly identified Sifuentes as the shooter and told investigators that everyone was talking about the shooting at the party in a text “group chat,” the affidavit stated.
Judge denies bond reduction for teen shooting suspect
Sifuentes, who goes by the nicknames of “JJ” or “Dreako,” was arrested and booked into the El Paso County jail in Downtown. A jail log describes him as 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 89 pounds.
Sifuentes, who resides in the East Side, remains jailed on a total bond of $80,000.
During a teleconference bond hearing on Sunday, May 24, Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun refused to lower the bond amount, citing the nature and circumstances of the case. No attorney is listed for Sifuentes on court records.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Affidavit: Teen shot into crowd, injured 2 at East El Paso party
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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