A 19-year-old connected to a fatal shooting of a man outside the home of a Gilroy councilwoman will not be charged for the crime, "pending further investigation," by the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office, KTVU reported.
The DA's office announced Wednesday that although no charges will be filed now in connection to the Oct. 30 shooting, some may be filed in the future as the investigation proceeds.
The shooting death of Michael Daniel Zuniga Macias occurred after a Halloween party at Gilroy City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz's home at about 1 a.m. on Saturday. Three others were injured in the incident, two of which sustained life-threatening injuries. The victims were all between the ages of 17 and 19 years old.
"Our investigators are interviewing as many people they can get in for interviews … to determine the motive, the reason behind the altercation," Gilroy police Sgt. Lamonte Toney told KCBS Radio in an interview on Saturday before Calderon's arrest was announced. "But we don't have that at this point."
The victim was shot trying to break up a disagreement between two groups at the celebration, according to Manuel Macias, his great-uncle. "Michael starts to separate them, and that's when the bullets started flying," he told KTVU in an interview Wednesday.
The perpetrator, Benjamin Calderon was arrested at around 4:15 p.m. on Saturday. He is related to Armendariz. While the shooting took place outside Aermendariz’s home on the 400 block of Las Animas in Gilroy, it’s not known whether she was home or not.
"I'm thankful that my family and I were not hurt in this tragedy, and I pray for those whose loved ones have been touched by what has occurred," Armendariz, who was elected last year, told KPIX in a statement on Saturday. "In the meantime, we are giving our full cooperation to the Gilroy Police Department in this investigation. Our primary concern is for the individuals impacted and their families."
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