3 men were fixing a fence when they were shot. 1 suspect is in the same Tri-Cities gang

Two men were fixing a backyard fence damaged in a recent windstorm when gunfire erupted, wounding both and killing a third.

A survivor told Pasco police he’s known one of the alleged shooters for some time, and the two even belong to the same gang.

Court documents unsealed Friday don’t reveal the motive behind the April 29 early evening shooting, or what the victim Luis “Oso” Contreras was doing in the yard.

Contreras, 29, ended up shot several times by two different guns, based on .45-caliber and 9mm bullets recovered during his autopsy.

One of the alleged shooters and an accomplice who lied to police about the getaway car have been arrested.

Antonio Larios and Eusiah A. Stell, both 18, appeared in Franklin County Superior Court on Friday.

Pasco police released Larios’ moniker as “Pistol Pete,” but have since said he was misidentified in their original Facebook posting.

Two other suspects, cousins, are still on the lam 1 1/2 weeks after the deadly shooting in east Pasco.

2 guns found in alley

Juan M. “Scars” Montalvo and Miguel A. “Terco” Montalvo both have $1 million nationwide warrants for their arrests.

Larios and Juan Montalvo are believed to have been the shooters. A Citadel Arms .45 and a stolen Glock 19 9mm were found by officers, tossed in an alley not far from the scene.

Police were called to the 1901 E. Lewis St. home at 5:57 p.m. after several 911 calls came in about 10 or more gunshots.

Callers also reported seeing several people running from the house, and said “some of those running were shooting at those who were fleeing,” court documents show.

Contreras was found dead in the backyard, while Roberto Montano, 26, was bleeding profusely from his left side.

As officers were continuing to arrive at the home, dispatch got another call about Sergio Torres, 27, who was bleeding at an apartment complex a few blocks away. Torres was shot in the upper back.

Torres told police that he was at Montano’s home working on the broken fence when two men showed up in a gray car. He said he didn’t know them, but they started shooting and that’s when he felt “a stinging in his back,” documents said.

He took off running south, he said.

Witness saw victim shot

A witness who had been inside the home said she saw Miguel Montalvo, “Scars” and a third man pull up in a car.

She heard the group arguing and “had a feeling that something bad was going to happen,” and that’s when she heard several shots, according to court documents.

The woman ran outside and saw “Scars” shoot a man who was on the ground. The witness and the suspect made eye contact, and Juan Montalvo took off running, leaving through a broken part of the fence, documents said.

A driver near the home at the time gave investigators dash cam footage that showed three people running. The sounds of gunfire can be heard on the video, police said.

Investigators found cellphones in the backyard and a wallet with Stell’s identification card. There also were a number of spent cartridges in the backyard and across Lewis Street.

The Citadel Arms gun was discovered in an empty garbage can. It was in the slide lock position and had no ammunition in the magazine or chamber, court documents said.

The Glock was found in an alcove off the alley.

2 suspects still wanted

Security video from a neighbor’s home allegedly shows Miguel Montalvo, Larios and Stell at the scene, along with Montalvo dumping the gun in the trash can and Larios running into the alcove area, documents said.

Montano told detectives he saw Juan Montalvo come into his backyard and start shooting in his direction. He said he saw Miguel Montalvo there too, but did not see him actually fire a gun.

He said once the gunshots began, he immediately turned his back away from the Montalvo cousins and ran, documents said.

Pasco investigators say the suspects may be linked to a black 2006 Kia Sorento SUV with the license plate number AWR4147.

Juan Montalvo is 6-foot-2, weighs 265 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. He normally wears glasses and has a tattoo on the back of his head.

Miguel Montalvo is 5-foot-10, weighs 137 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair. He has a tattoo on his neck.

Larios and the Montalvo cousins are all charged in Franklin County with second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault. Larios is locked up on $1 million bail.

Stell is charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance. His bail was set Friday at $50,000.

Court documents show that an officer was on his way to the shooting scene when he contacted Stell several blocks away. Stell denied being at the scene, but said he saw the suspects’ gray car pass by minutes before.

Investigators determined that Stell lied and he intentionally gave police the wrong direction than the car’s actual escape path to give the suspects time to get away, documents said.

Arraignments for both Larios and Stell are scheduled June 9 once court resumes normal operations following the coronavirus pandemic.

Anyone with information about the shooting or where the two Montalvo cousins might be is urged to call Detective Chris Caicedo at 509-619-9514, Detective Jed Abastillas at 509-727-8541 or dispatchers at 509-628-0333.

This story was originally published May 9, 2020 at 1:57 PM.