FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – It began with one man punching another inside a south side bar after 2 a.m.
It ended with people spilling to the outside, multiple gunmen firing their weapons in various directions, a security guard firing a gun of his own, two people left in life-threatening condition from bullet wounds and one man facing an attempted murder charge.
Those are the details in newly released Allen Superior Court documents describing a melee turned double shooting outside Las Lomas Mexican Grill located at 2202 Fairfield Avenue this past Saturday.
Allen County prosecutors formally charged 29-year-old Jose M. Mendoza, aka “Frog,” with a Level 1 felony count of attempted murder in connection with the May 20 shooting Friday, according to court records.
Mendoza is accused of shooting a man in the arm as that man walked outside the bar, court documents said.
The man Mendoza is accused of shooting had been involved in a fight where he was punched in the head by another man identified as “Witness 1” inside the bar just prior to the shooting, according to court documents.
Security inside the bar separated groups of people involved in that altercation and ushered them out of different exits from the bar. When the man who had been punched walked outside the bar, gunfire rang out, court documents said.
After being wounded, the man ducked back inside the bar.
The gunshots brought others out of the bar, as well, including a security guard. Once outside, the security guard spotted “Witness 1,” who was accused of punching the first shooting victim, firing a gun multiple times in the air, court documents said.
That’s when the security guard aimed his .380-caliber handgun and fired once, hitting “Witness 1” in the head, according to court documents.
Emergency dispatchers began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting the shooting and could hear numerous people at the scene yelling as well as vehicles pulling off the parking lot, court documents said.
By the time Fort Wayne police patrol units arrived, officers spotted a pickup truck speeding from the scene. The driver of the pickup truck refused to stop for police until arriving at Lutheran Downtown Hospital.
Inside the pickup, officers found the man who had been shot in the arm. He was taken to another hospital and listed as in life-threatening condition.
At the scene they found “Witness 1” suffering from the gunshot wound to his head and he was also listed in life-threatening condition.
An update on both their conditions has not been released as of yet.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from inside and outside the bar to sort out what happened, according to court documents.
They used this footage to track Mendoza’s actions inside and outside the bar. Investigators wrote in court documents Mendoza was recorded aiming and firing a gun outside the bar in the direction of the man hit in the arm.
Other bar patrons were in the area, as well, court documents said.
The footage also captured the man identified as “Witness 1” firing a gun in the air outside the bar but not at people. When the security guard walked outside, “Witness 1” lowered his gun before being shot, court documents said.
Thus far, no charges have been filed against “Witness 1” or the security guard in connection with the shooting.
Investigators were able to find Mendoza this past Monday and he was taken into custody without incident, court documents said.
Along with the attempted murder charge – which carries a prison term of between 20 and 40 years – Mendoza faces lesser felony charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, battery by means of a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon.
He’s being held on $40,000 bond.
