New details in Roberts shooting that left one woman shot multiple times

ROBERTS – Court documents reveal new details on a shooting over the weekend that ended with a woman being shot twice.

Jose Gonzalez, 31, has been charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and Gerardo Mendoza, 48, has been charged with felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to court records, two detectives with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office were called out to a shooting near the Mustang Event Center on Sunday around 10 p.m.

While there, detectives were told there had been a shooting where a woman was shot through the hand and the upper leg.

The detectives were told the shooter had been identified as Gonzalez.

Mendoza’s version

One detective spoke to Mendoza, who said he and the woman were walking their dogs around 3 or 4 p.m. to the Teton Truck Shop when Gonzalez confronted them.

Gonzalez reportedly asked them if the dogs were theirs and told them the dogs had been attacking his cats.

Mendoza said Gonzalez had threatened to “take care of his dogs, and if it continues, we will also take care of a felon,” according to the police report.

A few hours later, Mendoza says his two children were driving the car around town. When they came home, they told Mendoza that Gonzalez had “pointed a gun at them and came yelling up to the car and saying they were driving on the wrong side of the road.”

The children also said Gonzalez had a “strobe light and was flashing it at them.”

One of the children reportedly got out of the car and talked to Gonzalez before getting back in the car and returning home.

After finding out what happened, Mendoza and a woman went to confront Gonzalez in front of the Mustang Center. Mendoza allegedly got out of the car and hit Gonzalez in the face.

Gonzalez then allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Mendoza and the woman and shot the woman.

Officers responded, and the woman was then taken to an Idaho Falls hospital by ambulance. She was treated and released.

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Detectives spoke to the children, who said they saw Mendoza with a gun when he went to confront Gonzalez. When the detective asked Mendoza if he had a gun, he denied it.

A detective writes in the report that Mendoza “lied to me a couple of different times” because they discovered a magazine with multiple 9mm ammunition inside and a bullet hole through the side of the magazine with the projectile “mushroomed” inside the magazine.

The magazine found on the scene was reportedly a different brand than what was used by Gonzalez.

Mendoza told the detective the magazine was his because he can’t have a firearm as a convicted felon, so he used the magazine and ammo to put inside his fist to hit Gonzalez.

Detectives continued to ask where the gun was, and Mendoza kept saying he didn’t have one on him.

Gonzalez, Mendoza and the woman were all taken to the sheriff’s office to continue interviews.

Gonzalez’s version

Gonzalez reportedly admitted to confronting Mendoza and the woman about the dogs attacking his cars and saying he would “take care of them.”

He told the detectives that later, he saw a car driving in the wrong lane and it had almost hit him. He called the children’s names and told them they were on the wrong side of the road before one of the children got out of the car and “confronted him about being disrespectful and calling them names.”

He said the children left, and a few minutes later, another car came up to him, but this time it was Mendoza and the woman.

He said he confronted the woman because she was driving, and Mendoza got out of the car, hit him in the face and pointed a gun at him.

Because of this, Gonzalez said he pulled out his own gun and pointed it at him too. There was reportedly a “short standoff” before Gonzalez yelled at Mendoza to drop the weapon and put the gun on the hood.

Mendoza put his gun on the hood, but the woman allegedly “grabbed the gun and pointed it at (Gonzalez),” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he felt threatened, so he shot “three or four times” at the woman. He says Mendoza put the woman in the car and drove off, but he came back to retrieve the gun and drove off again.

The investigation

The woman denied holding the gun or ever pointing it at anyone and said Gonzalez shot at her after she dropped her keys on the ground outside of the car.

Detectives later served a search warrant at Mendoza’s home to find the gun. They found a .22-style AR rifle in the home and confirmed Mendoza was the owner.

They also reportedly found “numerous 9mm rounds” inside the home.

During the search, detectives spoke to a man inside the house who said Mendoza “took his gun out of the closet and hasn’t returned with it.”

A few hours later, Mendoza showed up at the sheriff’s office and told the jail staff he wanted to speak with the detective to tell him where the gun is.

Mendoza then admitted to lying to the detective and said he had a gun and pointed it at Gonzalez. He said he didn’t shoot and put the gun on the hood of the car. According to Mendoza, neither he nor the woman touched the gun after that, and Gonzalez “shot her for no reason.”

He also admitted to throwing the gun out of the passenger side door into the Snake River.

Mendoza was arrested and booked into the Jefferson County Jail with a bond of $10,000. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17.

If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.

Gonzalez was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail with a bond of $20,000. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Though Mendoza and Gonzalez have been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean they committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

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