A Lubbock County grand jury recently indicted two people accused of engaging in a gun battle earlier this month at a central Lubbock drive-in restaurant that sent one of them to the hospital and also injured another person.
T.J. Aguilar, 18, and Ethan Flores, 21, are charged with counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for their roles in a shooting at a central Lubbock Sonic Drive-In.
The offense is a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
The charges stem from a Lubbock police investigation that began Aug. 6 after police were called to a home in the 2000 block of Avenue K for a person with a gunshot wound.
Responding officers found in the home’s driveway a bullet-riddled gold Lincoln Town Car that matched the description of a vehicle involved in a reported shooting earlier that night at Sonic, according to court documents.
Officers found blood inside the vehicle that trailed into the home, leading officers to a bedroom where they found Aguilar suffering from a gunshot wound in his face, the documents state.
He was taken to University Medical Center, where he remains under the custody of the Lubbock County Detention Center, according to Lubbock police officials.
About 20 minutes after the call to Aguilar’s home, Lubbock police officers were dispatched to UMC, where a woman arrived with a minor gunshot wound in the back of her head. The woman arrived in a Chrysler 200 that appeared to also have bullet damage.
The woman’s boyfriend, identified as Flores, was taken to the Lubbock police headquarters where he told detectives he and his girlfriend were at the Sonic Drive-In in the 1900 block of 34th Street when two people in a gold vehicle pulled up next to them. He said he recognized Aguilar and the two stared at each other until Aguilar and his passenger reportedly flashed guns at him and threated to kill him.
An arrest warrant stated that Flores and Aguilar appeared to have an ongoing feud. The document states Aguilar shares a child with Flores’ girlfriend.
A server at Sonic told investigators that she overheard Flores arguing with his girlfriend, who was telling him to “let it go and not to do anything.”
The witness said the Town Car was leaving when Flores got out of his vehicle and began shooting it.
Flores reportedly admitted exiting his vehicle and shooting into the back of Aguilar’s vehicle to scare them off, but instead, the people in the other vehicle returned fire.
He said they left the restaurant in opposite directions but the Town Car found him near the intersection of 35th Street and Avenue N and shot at him. Lubbock police officials noted that a tee ball team recently began practicing at the nearby park when the gunshots erupted.
Detectives later found Flores’ gun in the floorboard of the patrol vehicle he was riding to the interview. Video from inside the vehicle showed Flores removing the weapon from his waistband and dropping it on the floor. The gun was also reported stolen.
Investigators reportedly found bullet shell casings in the area and at the drive-in, and in Aguilar’s vehicle.
Investigators found videos from the area of the initial shooting at Sonic. According to the documents, investigators could hear gun shots off camera before a gold passenger car comes into view.
The driver of the car, who appeared to be wearing clothes that resembled the ones Aguilar wore, exits the vehicle, points a firearm at a target off camera and fires.
The driver then gets back into the vehicle and drives away.
A witness who knows Aguilar reportedly told police Aguilar was speeding in the gold vehicle toward the 2000 block of Avenue K and appeared to have blood on his face, the documents state.
A search of Aguilar’s home yielded a plastic bag that contained evidence that included two hand guns, one of which had a blood smear on it. One of the weapons, which investigators learned was stolen, appeared to have a device that turned the pistol into a machine gun, the warrant states.
According to the warrant, investigators believe while Aguilar instigated the confrontation with Flores, he was already leaving the scene when Flores fired at him and struck him.
Though both parties left in opposite directions, Aguilar began hunting down Flores instead of seeking medical attention and shot at Flores, striking his girlfriend in the process.
“The rounds fired by Aguilar (and his passenger) would have also been in direct line with the tee ball practice occurring beyond (Flores’) vehicle,” the warrant states.
Lubbock police obtained on Sunday an arrest warrant for Aguilar. A warrant for Flores’ arrest was issued the next day, police officials said.
Their bonds are set at $100,000 each.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 2 indicted after shoot-out at central Lubbock drive-in restaurant
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