Teen arrested on murder charge in Red Sands shooting death on Thanksgiving weekend
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El Paso County sheriff's deputies arrested a man this weekend accused in a fatal shooting in Red Sands over the Thanksgiving holiday last year.
Angel Gallardo, 19, of Horizon City area, was arrested on a murder charge on Saturday, April 6, following a lengthy investigation by detectives with the Major Crimes Unit into the shooting death of 19-year-old Mauricio Elias on Black Friday in the desert off-roading site, officials said.
Gallardo was taken into custody on Saturday after he was located by the Major Crimes Unit, Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Targeted Response Unit, known as TRU, from the Peter J. Herrera Patrol Station in Clint.
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Gallardo is being held under a $1 million bond at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown El Paso. A motive in the shooting has not been disclosed.
Elias, a graduate of Socorro High School, was "a great kid with an amazing heart always looking out for everyone," his family stated on a GoFundMe page collecting donations for funeral expenses.
One killed, 2 wounded in Red Sands shooting on Thanksgiving weekend
The shooting occurred about 9 p.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 24, as crowds of all-terrain and off-road vehicles had gathered in Red Sands, off Montana Avenue, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said. The Sheriff's Office had initially said that Elias was 18 years old.
When deputies arrived, paramedics from the Texas Rescue Patrol were performing CPR on Elias, who was transported to the Hospitals of Providence East Campus, where he died, sheriff's officials said. Two other persons, both 18 years old, had gunshot wounds that were not life threatening.
The Texas Rescue Patrol is a state-licensed emergency medical services volunteer group that provides emergency aid in Red Sands and other parts of the rural desert in El Paso and Hudspeth counties.
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The volatile mix of alcohol and firearms at Red Sands has become so hazardous in recent years that the Texas Rescue Patrol is asking for donations to buy body armor for its volunteer medics. The nonprofit group has a GoFundMe page set up to collect money to purchase body armor for its EMTs.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso-area man arrested on murder charge in Red Sands shooting
