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Suspect In Fayetteville Christmas Shooting Appears In Court

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – A Fayetteville man accused in a Christmas shooting at a local apartment complex appeared in court for his initial appearance Monday mornin...
gonzales julio mug

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – A Fayetteville man accused in a Christmas shooting at a local apartment complex appeared in court for his initial appearance Monday morning (Dec. 29).

Julio Gonzales, 36, appeared before a magistrate in Washington County to hear the potential charges against him, which include aggravated assault, kidnapping, first-degree battery, fleeing, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft by receiving and criminal mischief, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Gonzales remains in the Washington County Detention Center on $225,000 bond. He has an arraignment scheduled for Jan. 7, according to the Sheriff’s Office website.

The suspect was arrested Friday (Dec. 26) following a Christmas Day shooting investigation at a Fayetteville apartment complex in which no one was injured.

Authorities responded to a call around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 25 of shots fired at Washington Plaza Apartments at 1750 N. Shamblin Ave. in Fayetteville, according to an arrest report.

An officer arrived and saw a van drive away from the apartments at a high rate of speed, the report states. The van later crashed into a tree on Valley View Road in Fayetteville, and the driver fled, police said.

Police returned to Washington Plaza Apartments, and an officer was approached by a woman named Stormy Lane who said her husband, Gonzales, was the driver of the van, the report states. She said someone had shot at their van while they were in Springdale, and they were followed by two vehicles, according to the report. She said a man pulled a gun on them while they were in the van in the apartment parking lot, and Gonzales was trying to get away, the report states.

A witness told police the only vehicles involved in the incident were a white sport utility vehicle and the van, according to the report.

The SUV was still in the parking lot, but it had no license plate. An officer found damage on the front bumper of the SUV, the hood and down the driver’s side door, the report states.

The owner of the SUV was later found in a nearby apartment, and the arrest report states he was nervous to come out, asking, “Are they gone?” He told police he was at the apartments visiting a friend, and a Hispanic man with face tattoos walked up to him (while he was in the SUV) and pointed a gun at him, according to the report.

He leaned back in the seat, fearing he was about to be shot, and he managed to back his SUV into another parking space, the report states.

The Hispanic man, later identified as Gonzales, then got into a van and hit the SUV’s front bumper, trapping it, according to the report. The owner of the SUV then got out and ran into his friend’s nearby apartment, police said.

Gonzales fled the area in the van before police could arrive and stop him, according to the arrest report. He then crashed the van into a tree on Valley View Road, police said.

After the crash, police searched the van and found a baseball bat and a methamphetamine pipe, according to the report.

The van was later determined to have been stolen from the Whisler Mobile Home & RV Park at 1101 S. Old Missouri Rd. in Springdale, police said.

Gonzales has been arrested before in a Fayetteville armed robbery case dating back to March.

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