The suspect in the Mountain View shooting has been arrested with a stolen puppy, Rambo, playing an important link to solving the case.
Police said that officers responded to gunfire reports at Rengstorff Park on Wednesday afternoon. Two persons were found by the investigators to have suffered minor injuries but the man behind the shootings escaped.
How about Rambo? It was later found out that the dog’s owner was the shooter.
On Monday evening, the officers were alerted that an 8-week-old puppy was stolen from an apartment complex located at Escuela Avenue.
One of the puppy’s owners was identified as Reynaldo Medina, 19, of Mountain View.
Shooting witnesses’ description of the suspect matches Medina.
“While detectives were working to confirm Medina’s involvement in the shooting, late Wednesday night, an employee at a restaurant in Redwood City was watching the news and recognized Rambo, who happened to be in their restaurant at the time,” police said. “The employee called the Redwood City Police Department, who in turn called us, and Rambo was safely brought back to Mountain View.”
“Ultimately, through the course of our investigation, officers confirmed Medina, Rambo’s owner, was the suspect in the shooting at Rengstorff Park on Wednesday afternoon,” police added.
According to the police, the suspect was looking for the puppy at the park. It is not identified, however, what his motive was in opening fire.
On Thursday, Medina was arrested over the allegations of assault with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon.
“I continue to be incredibly impressed with the tenacity and dedication by our investigative teams tackling these cases and putting the pieces together,” according to Chief Chris Hsiung. “This is a prime example of good, old-fashioned police work, and that work paid off.”
Meanwhile, Rambo, which police said was “healthy” and “doing well” was turned over to the Medina family, ABC7 reported.
The investigation into why Rambo was stolen will continue.
