Left: Rory Horowitz (Bernalillo County Sheriff”s Office). Right: Ellyssa Salazar (Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office).
A man in New Mexico was showing his new motorcycle to a friend when suddenly he was shot in the head by a suspect aiming at someone else, authorities say.
Rory Horowitz is accused of shooting 21-year-old Roberto Carlos Pineda Arriaza, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office announced this week. The defendant was initially wanted on charges including shooting at or from a motor vehicle causing great bodily harm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, but after the victim’s death, detectives stated their intention to seek an amended warrant charging Horowitz with an open count of murder.
Ellyssa Salazar is also considered a suspect. She has been charged with tampering with evidence and harboring a fugitive.
On Saturday, Horowitz and Salazar — whose ages are unclear — were riding in her Mitsubishi in Albuquerque, New Mexico, authorities say. At some point, they came across another vehicle, and something happened that unleashed a torrent of “road rage,” according to investigators.
Arriaza was showing a friend his new motorcycle in the area of Bridge Boulevard and Sunset Road when gunshots rang out in the air, local CBS affiliate KRQE reported. Horowitz had allegedly fired at the other vehicle, and Arriaza was struck in the head by a bullet.
Emergency responders rushed to his aid and transported him to a hospital in “critical condition.” Three days later, he died.
Investigators say they identified Horowitz as their “primary suspect,” and they tracked him and Salazar to a residence in El Paso, Texas, where they arrested them. “The arrest warrant affidavit states witnesses described the shooter, linked him to the Mitsubishi, and tied additional evidence back to Horowitz during the course of the investigation,” the sheriff’s office added.
The other person “involved in the road rage incident” was arrested by the Albuquerque Police Department on charges of aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer and reckless driving, according to the sheriff’s office, which said “investigators have not developed evidence showing that individual fired any rounds during the incident.”
As of Wednesday, authorities were in the process of extraditing Horowitz and Salazar back to New Mexico. The investigation was still ongoing, and investigators were still searching for the Mitsubishi.
