New Mexico Man Sues Over Bullet Fragments That Injured Him

A New Mexico man has filed a lawsuit over injuries he suffered at a convenience store in May when he was struck by ricocheting bullet fragments that were fired by a Pojoaque artist.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Elijah Mark Vera says Pojoaque artist Mateo Romero pulled a gun during an altercation with a homeless person and fired a shot into the pavement.

In this case, I quite agree that the shooter is responsible.

But I don’t agree in every case. For example, a woman is struck from behind by an attacker in a parking lot, she falls to the ground and the attacker begins kicking her. She manages to reach her gun and fires up at the attacker. If that bullet misses and hits an innocent, I hold the attacker responsible and not the woman.

Thus, I would describe responsibility as a due diligence issue. This shooter did not appear to be forced into firing, but instead chose to fire a weapon in a manner than was dangerous.

(From another article. The shooter was wrong on several counts.)

“...Romero told police that a homeless man approached him outside Allsup’s, 305 N. Guadalupe St., at about 6:22 p.m. Friday and slammed his hand against the hood of Romero’s blue Chevy Camaro.

“Romero told police that in self-defense, he pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun from inside his car, thinking that he could be robbed of the $300 cash that also was inside his vehicle, Dobyns said.

“Dobyns said Romero fired a “warning shot” at the homeless man’s feet. However, the bullet ricocheted up and hit a 24-year-old man using a nearby pay phone...”

Where to start?

While he was right to have his gun handy, he had the choice, legitimate in either case, to either keep it concealed, but at the ready, or brandish it.

However, unless he had been flashing his cash around, his statement should have reflected that he was afraid for his life, not specifically that he was afraid of being robbed of his $300. For future reference, this could matter in a trial cross examination, because it goes to the shooter’s “state of mind”, and a prosecutor could play games with it.

“Would you have been afraid of being robbed enough to shoot if you only had $100? How about $5, or no money at all? What were you thinking? Were you not thinking? Were you willing to shoot the man because he looked poor, or because he was (insert ethnic group here)?”

If you stick to “I was afraid for my life”, repeatedly, no matter how the prosecutor tries to twist it, you get over.

This being said, a “warning shot” is just a stupid waste of a bullet. One less bullet that you might need. If you brandish a gun, and they still keep coming at you, they are a lethal threat, and could be crazy or drunk or on drugs, or concealing a short range weapon like a knife and trying to close the gap while you hesitate.

Second, firing a bullet onto a close hard surface is downright stupid, because it could ricochet just about any direction, including right back at you.

This being said, the best option for the injured man is a lawsuit, which unless their local juries are pro-artist corrupt, should be an easy win and set the shooter back some bills, both for the judgment and the attorney’s fees. Probably a lot more than the $300 he was worried about.

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