A Colorado man is accused of shooting a drinking buddy in the chest with a stolen .45-caliber handgun while in a truck after leaving a Baggs, Wyoming, bar in the early morning hours Saturday.
Alejandro Rodriguez-Zarraga, 37, was in the back seat of a Ford Raptor with three other men at about 1:30 a.m. after a night of drinking at the Cowboy Bar in Baggs, Carbon County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Patrick Patterson wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Carbon County Circuit Court.
Sitting in the back seat of the truck, Rodriguez-Zarraga was allegedly shooting a Sig Sauer 1911-style handgun out the window, then the gun discharged again when he pulled it inside the vehicle, the affidavit says.
Rodriguez-Zarraga “started shooting out of the rear passenger window of the vehicle,” Patterson wrote. “The weapon was brought back inside the vehicle, and an additional round was fired, going thru (sic) the back of the passenger seat and into (another man), who was sitting in the front passenger seat.”
The driver and other two men in the truck attempted to stop the victim’s bleeding, then drove south on Highway 13 into Colorado and to Memorial Regional Hospital in Craig, the affidavit says.
They called 911 while driving, and Moffat County deputies out of Colorado located the truck as it was driving to the hospital.
They also went to the location at about mile 115 of Highway 13 where Rodriguez-Zarraga was reportedly shooting out the window and recovered a number of spent shell casings, according to the affidavit.
It’s not clear from the affidavit how seriously the victim was hurt, but it says the man was shot in the chest.
Rodriguez-Zarraga made his first court appearance Monday on a single misdemeanor charge of reckless endangering, which is punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of not more than $750, or both.
Magazine In His Boot
Video surveillance from the Cowboy Bar confirms the men were there prior to the highway shooting, the affidavit says.
“During the video review, you could clearly see multiple Hispanic males inside the bar drinking together,” the affidavit says. “At around 1:18, several of the males left the bar and did not return.”
Also, Rodriguez-Zarraga “admitted to being drunk and stated he had been partying in Baggs earlier that evening,” the affidavit says.
The gun was found in a pocket on the back of the seat in front of the rear passenger, and was later determined to have been stolen out of Bell County, Texas, Patterson wrote.
Also, a magazine for the Sig Sauer, loaded with .45-caliber ammunition, was found in Rodriguez-Zarraga’s left boot.
“In the interior of the Raptor, in plain view, a bullet hole could be seen going through the back of the passenger seat and out the front,” the affidavit says. “There was also a red blood-like substance on the passenger seat where (the victim) had been sitting.
“There were also several open alcohol containers throughout the Raptor.”
After calling 911, Colorado deputies caught up with the truck and the driver flashed his lights at the patrol vehicle, which followed it to the hospital, the affidavit says.
The other men in the truck identified Rodriguez-Zarraga as the shooter when interviewed by investigators, saying the gun inadvertently discharged while it was being brought back into the vehicle, Patterson wrote.
The investigation included the Carbon County, Wyoming, and Moffat County sheriff’s offices, but the shooting is believed to have happened in Baggs, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken says in a statement about the incident.
Second Shooting Incident In A Month
Saturday’s shooting is the second in less than a month in the tiny Wyoming border town of Baggs, but on a much smaller scale.
Baggs was on lockdown for a good part of June 8 when a gunman, who has not yet been publicly identified, shot Carbon County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Zachary Burns three times.
Burns was shot in the neck, arm and hip when he confronted the suspect outside his apartment near the southern end of Baggs at about noon that day.
The suspect retreated into his apartment, tried to start the apartment complex on fire with numerous propane takes inside, then sped away in his car again, according to the CCSO.
He was eventually killed in a shootout with law enforcement after crashing his car north of town off state Highway 789.
In the meantime, a pair of nearby Baggs residents rushed to Burns’ aid, likely saving his life, CCSO Sheriff Alex Bakken has previously reported.
In the meantime, Burns continues to recover from his wounds and “has made incredible progress,” Bakken says in a Monday statement updating the sergeant’s condition.
“He still has a long way to go, but Zach is a fighter and he continues to improve daily,” the sheriff says. “He is talking, mobile, and is walking with assistance from medical staff.”
As for Rodriguez-Zarraga, he’s next scheduled for a Wyoming preliminary hearing on July 14.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
