Two men got into an argument over rent, and it ended with one man, Lazaro Lutsie, shooting the other in the head.
On Dec. 31, around 6 pm, McKinley County Sheriff’s deputies were called to 702 Pillar Ave. in Gamerco when they received the call about a possible gunshot victim.
When the deputies entered the trailer, they found the victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. Two women were at the scene, and they told deputies that the victim and Lutsie, 24, had gotten into an argument about rent.
The women said that the four of them had been drinking when the victim and Lutsie began arguing. All four of them live in the trailer, and their landlord had stopped by and asked for the rent.
According to the deputies’ report, the women were able to separate the two men into different rooms, but they just kept yelling at each other. Eventually, the victim entered the room Lutsie was in, and that’s when he picked up his 9mm pistol and shot the victim.
The victim was taken to the hospital, where he is currently in critical condition.
As he fled the scene Lutsie dropped the gun in the trash.
In an interview with the Sun, McKinley County Undersheriff James Maiorano III said that around 3 am on Jan. 1, about nine hours after the shooting, Lutsie approached a Gallup Police officer and turned himself in.
He was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center around 6 am.
Lutsie is facing charges of aggravated battery and tampering with evidence. His first appearance in court was on Jan. 3.
Maiorano said he was proud of how his deputies handled the situation.
“I think they did an outstanding job. Our response time for the original call for service was less than two minutes … and our investigations division agents did an excellent job coming out in the middle of the night to file the warrant and make sure our suspect was put in jail that day,” Maiorano said. “I’m very happy that we were able to resolve that in less than 24 hours.”
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