Milan man shot, suspect nabbed

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

MILAN — A fight in Grants on Saturday resulted in a man being shot in the arm.

Gabriel Mirabal, 22, of Milan, was shot in the arm following a confrontation shortly after 5 p.m., near 1500 Willow Drive.

The suspect in the shooting, Oscar Perez, also known as Gabriel DuBois, left the scene in a 1990 Blue Saturn with two other people, Elise Thomas and Jeremy Thomas.

Milan Police Chief Jerry Stephens said a statewide arrest warrant was obtained from Cibola County Magistrate Court Judge Manuel Lujan on Monday.

Early Tuesday, about 3:30 a.m., Stephens said Perez was arrested in Las Cruces by the Las Cruces Police Department.

As of Tuesday, Perez had not been transferred to the Cibola County detention center.

“I don’t know what Mr. Perez was doing in Las Cruces,” he said, not wanting to speculate about that scenario.

Stephens said New Mexico State Police called Milan Police about a man in the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital with a gun shot wound on Saturday night, but no action was taken at that time because police did not know definitively who the suspect was.

After interviewing some witnesses in the case, it was determined Monday that Perez was the individual who used a shotgun to shoot Mirabal.

Stephens said he did not want to speculate what the confrontation may have been about either.

Cpl. Sylvia Knotts, criminal investigator for the Milan Police Department, obtained a search warrant for Perez’s residence at 717 Laurie Ave., in Milan.

The premises included a white mobile home, a Ford pickup, a second pickup, a Volkswagen and a storage shed.

Search warrant records, filed with Magistrate Court, indicate the following items were found: Two BB guns, one a rifle the other a handgun; a plastic water pipe containing possible marijuana residue in the bowl; a second pipe with possible residue in the bowl from a different room; a photo of three male individuals holding guns; a Jack Daniels shot glass, containing possible marijuana residue, a plastic bag containing a white powder and a small scale for weighing items.

Stephens said the shotgun and the car have not been found, resulting in two felony tampering with evidence charges.

Perez is also charged in connection with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a felony; and negligent use of a firearm, a misdemeanor.

If he is prosecuted and convicted of all charges, Perez could serve up to six years in state prison, be fined up to $15,000, or both.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.