Shooter turns self in to cops

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Police arrested a 24-year-old Gallup man who allegedly confessed to shooting another man in the leg on Feb. 22.

Fernando J. Baeza was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on felony charges of aggravated battery, negligent use of a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence for his alleged role in a shooting that left 27-year-old Malcolm Rodriguez with a gunshot wound in his leg.

Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department, said Baeza turned himself in to police on Saturday at about 1 p.m. He reportedly confessed to shooting Rodriguez at close range with a high-powered rifle near the Coca-Cola Distribution Center on Gallup's east end. Baeza told police he and Rodriguez knew each other, which contradicts Rodriguez's statement to police about the shooting, Toadlena-Pablo said. Rodriguez reportedly told police he did not know the man who shot him.

Toadlena-Pablo had no information about a motive for the crime.

"I don't know the specifics at this time," she said.

A CrimeStoppers tip previously led detectives to investigate Baeza as a suspect in the shooting. However, police were in the initial stages of their investigation when Baeza turned himself into authorities. He was reportedly encouraged by a friend or family member to do so.

Toadlena-Pablo said officers found the purple Monte Carlo that was used as the getaway vehicle. They also located the firearm at a residence on Morgan Ave.

Rodriguez is undergoing medical treatment in Albuquerque. Toadlena-Pablo has said Rodriguez's leg may have to be amputated due to the severity of his injury.


Exposure death
Gallup police are investigating the death of a 30-year-old Yah-ta-hey man who was found in a Morgan Avenue field on Saturday morning.

The man was identified as Eddie Parker, according to Toadlena-Pablo.

Investigators were called to 500 W. Morgan Ave. at about 11 a.m. after two passersby found Parker laying lifeless in the field. Authorities suspect Parker died from exposure, but are awaiting results from an autopsy to determine an official cause. Toadlena-Pablo said investigators suspect alcohol was involved in Parker's death.

Parker's death marks Gallup's sixth suspected exposure death of the winter season.