A man faces a charge of attempted murder after police say he shot a woman last week who had gone outside her northwest side home to investigate the sound of gunfire, court documents say.
Mario PeÃąa-Chaidez, 28, is in the Pima County jail on a charge of attempted second-degree murder. Bond is set at $100,000.
The shooting happened shortly before 11 p.m. June 14, when deputies were called to the intersection of North El Tovar Avenue and West Garnette Street, near North Flowing Wells Road and West Wetmore roads, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a news release. Deputies found a wounded woman in the street, with three .45-caliber casings resting next to her, according to an interim complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court.
Witnesses reported hearing multiple shots fired throughout the area. Deputies found additional shell casings on a nearby street, as well as a vehicle with its windshield shot out, the department said.
Video footage taken from a home near the shooting did not capture the incident, but did confirm that the first shot was fired at 10:44 p.m. and the last shot was fired four minutes later. Several shots are heard fired in between, authorities said.
Detectives met with the woman at the hospital on June 19 to take her statement.
The woman told investigators she was inside her home when she heard gunshots. She walked out to investigate and saw a man in the street. As she approached him, the man pointed the weapon and fired. The bullet struck her in her lower back, the complaint said.
During a search of the neighborhood, deputies encountered PeÃąa-Chaidez. He told them he left a bar in the area earlier that night and hours later got into a confrontation with an armed woman. PeÃąa-Chaidez went on to say he accidentally shot the wrong person, the complaint says.
Investigators were able to track the movements of PeÃąa-Chaidez that evening. It showed him at a convenience store, leaving the bar and walking in a neighborhood near where the shooting occurred, the complaint said. Video footage also shows PeÃąa-Chaidez with a weapon in his waistband, then in his hand and then pointing it into the air, authorities said.
PeÃąa-Chaidez was arrested June 19.
