A 22-year-old Aurora man is facing attempted murder charges for allegedly firing a weapon at a teenage boy during a drive-by shooting this past weekend.
Aurora police said Gabriel Martinez, of the 0-99 block of South Lincoln Avenue, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon following the Friday evening incident in the 200 block of Beach Street.
Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said a 14-year-old boy was sitting on a front porch around 8:25 p.m. when a gunman began firing from inside a vehicle that was driving by the home.
The teen was not injured, but the home was struck twice by bullets. Ferrelli said the teen was extremely uncooperative with responding officers when they arrived. “However, some outstanding police work led to the identification of the alleged shooter, who was allegedly inside the vehicle that had driven by the residence,” Ferrelli said. He said the incident appears to be gang-related.
According to Ferrelli, members of the department’s special operations group stopped a vehicle matching the description of the one involved in the shooting shortly after it occurred. Although Martinez was no longer inside the vehicle, officers were able to identify him as the alleged shooter as the investigation progressed, police said.
Martinez was taken into custody about 12:45 a.m. Sunday at his home.
Ferrelli said a gun and shell casings were found at an undisclosed location in connection with the incident. No further details were released by Ferrelli, who cited an ongoing investigation. He said additional charges are possible.
Anyone with information is asked to call Aurora police investigators at 630-256-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000.