NBC Bay Area published August 3, 2022: Suspected San Jose Serial Pellet Gun Shooter Arrested: Police.
Police arrested a man on Tuesday suspected of a series of shootings from a pellet gun at seemingly random victims, which are being classified as assaults with a deadly weapon and assaults causing great bodily injury, San Jose Police said on Wednesday.
KRON 4 published Police arrest suspected serial pellet gun shooter.
NBC News, Bay Area local
written by Bay City News
Wednesday August 3, 2022
Police arrested a man on Tuesday suspected of a series of shootings from a pellet gun at seemingly random victims, which are being classified as assaults with a deadly weapon and assaults causing great bodily injury, San Jose Police said on Wednesday.
Nicholas Montoya, 38, of Campbell, is accused of shooting lead pellets from a high-powered rifle at three victims in three separate San Jose locations in a 45 minute period on June 10. Another victim was identified the following day.
Police said they immediately put together a task force to identify and apprehend a suspect in the crimes.
Detectives discovered three additional shootings between April 14 and June 15, bringing the total number of shootings to seven. The victims were hit with high-velocity projectiles believed to be pellets. In several cases, doctors declined to remove the projectiles from the victims due to the inherent risk of the procedure, SJPD said.
The victims range in age from 9 years old to 56, with one other minor victim being 15. Six out of the seven people shot are female; six of the shootings occurred in San Jose and one in Campbell.
Police said that a "unique" suspect vehicle description led them to Montoya, as well as evidence seized during a search warrant.
Montoya was arrested at his residence in the 200 block of Beverly Court in Campbell, police said.
The suspect has been charged by the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office with seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon and assault causing great bodily injury, the SJPD said.
KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco published August 4, 2022: Pellet gun victim's father grateful SJPD arrested suspect. A man has been arrested in multiple pellet gun attacks in the South Bay. Officials say the suspect targeted his victims in what they describe as domestic terrorism. The father of one of the victims says his daughter may live with permanent scars from the attack.
ABC News
written by Dustin Dorsey
Wednesday August 3, 2022
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose Police have arrested a man suspected of shooting at least seven women and girls in the South Bay with an air-powered rifle.
38-year-old Nicholas Montoya of Campbell is charged with seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon and is now behind bars.
The first reported shooting happened on April 14, 2022 and the seventh on June 15, 2022.
Some of the victims faced life-threatening injuries, but thankfully no one was killed.
Gianna Vitarelli and Ramona Hockett were both shot in the back with an air-powered rifle while walking the streets.
Vitarelli was walking with a friend near Valley Fair Mall while Hockett was walking with a friend along Keyes Street.
Hockett says police told her captured video footage showed Montoya pulled over along the road when he fired his shot.
Vitarelli recalled a loud noise before she felt pain and her friend noticed the wound.
The pellet caused serious damage to the women. It came within inches, millimeters from their hearts.
"Moving forward, anytime I go outside my guard is going to be up because nowhere is really safe," Vitarelli said.
"I've been dealing with a lot of PTSD since the shooting and feeling very unsafe just walking down the street because I know he's just out there targeting people," Hockett said.
But Tuesday both Vitarelli and Hockett learned the news that returned some sort of peace and relief back to their lives: their suspected shooter had been arrested.
Montoya appeared in court for the first time today as the motives behind the shootings are still investigated
"Our detectives worked extensively on this case," SJPD Sgt. Christian Camarillo said. "What was really interesting and challenging for them was that in all of these instances, there was no physical evidence left behind. It really was a textbook 'who done it?' So very glad to get this individual off our streets."
San Jose police tell us all seven victims in the case were women in West San Jose and Campbell, a nine-year-old and 15-year-old Vitarelli among those shot.
The investigation included the SJPD Crime Analysis Unit, SJPD Crime Data Intelligence Center, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office Crime Strategies Unit and the Campbell Police Department.
After obtaining search warrants, Montoya was arrested at his home in Campbell on Aug. 2 and two air-powered rifles were seized, one with a scope on it. It is unclear at this time which gun was used, according to police.
Now, as Vitarelli and Hockett recover physically and mentally, they say they are thankful this shooter cannot hurt anyone anymore.
"It's brought a lot of relief knowing that he is behind bars and can't hurt anyone else because he's already hurt way too many people," Hockett said.
"I'm just really glad the guy was caught," Vitarelli said. "I think I feel a lot safer now."
Police are asking for any additional victims of the shootings to come forward as they continue their investigation.
SJPD and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office will provide more details at a news conference scheduled for tomorrow.
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