A SWAT team arrested a man on the California coast on September 2 for allegedly killing 80 farm animals during a three-hour-long massacre. Police say Vicente Joseph Arroyo of Salinas used multiple guns to kill the animals.
They included miniature horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, and other birds. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said that some of the injured animals survived but had to be put down by the SPCA because their wounds were too severe.
The shootings took place in the wee hours of Tuesday morning as multiple people called 911 to report gunfire. Arroyo was allegedly still shooting when sheriff’s deputies rolled up on the scene, which triggered a “shelter in place” order to the neighborhood.
Witness Jason Maynard told local media that at first he thought one of his neighbors was just picking off predatory coyotes. He kept that assumption even after hearing a second shot, which he said was unusual to hear in his neighborhood. But then “it was just b-b-b-boom for like 15 seconds,” Maynard said, and he knew there was serious trouble.
Given how dark it is at 3:30 a.m., cops had a hard time figuring out where the gunfire was originating from, and dense shrubbery also made it hard to see. Two local police departments activated surveillance drones, which helped the SWAT team pinpoint the shooter. They said it looked like Arroyo was with a vehicle that had crashed into a vineyard.
The sheriff’s office said they found numerous long guns, shotguns, and handguns, along with what they called “an unlawful assault weapon.” The guns were accompanied by numerous empty and loaded ammunition magazines.
The team approached Arroyo in an armored vehicle and he surrendered.
Arroyo is charged with wilful and negligent discharging of a firearm, illegal possession of an assault rifle, animal cruelty, vandalism, and criminal threats. The suspect is a felon, which brought additional charges for possessing firearms.
He is cooling his heels at the Monterey County Jail with a $50,000 bond.
