Mother says shooting victim knew assailant

CLOVIS – The mother of Sunday’s shooting victim in Clovis said her daughter was shot by a man she knew who “walked up to her, yelled at her, and then shot her.”

Jessica Gonzalez said her daughter, Esmeralda Gonzalez, 17, was recovering in a Lubbock hospital on Tuesday morning. “They said she’s very lucky to have made it.”

Police said Tuesday they are trying to locate the man Esmeralda said shot her. It wasn’t clear if any warrants had been issued for arrests in connection with the case.

Police said the teenager was shot in the driveway of a Mora Street residence Sunday night in Clovis.

“It was learned by talking to the victim and witnesses, the victim was in the driveway to the residence (at 1217 Mora) when a black-in-color SUV (possibly GMC Yukon) drove past and began shooting,” police said in a news release.

Jessica Gonzalez gave a more detailed account of the incident from her daughter’s hospital room on Tuesday.

She said Esmeralda was visiting a friend at the Mora Street residence when the friend’s stepdad confronted her in the driveway of the residence.

“She said he said something about her setting him up, but that’s all I got out of her. She’s been sleeping a lot since she’s been (in the hospital),” Jessica Gonzalez said.

On her Facebook page, Jessica Gonzalez wrote that “My daughter called me right after this happened, I had to hear my daughter cry and scream in terror while she cried out to me.”

Police Capt. Robert Telles said on Monday that police didn’t know if the teen was the intended target, but the shooting was the second reported at the residence over the weekend. "We have very limited information on the other (shooting)," Telles said.

Police records show a “shots fired” incident was reported at the same address just after midnight Saturday morning.

Police were notified of the Sunday shooting about 6:35 p.m.

On arrival, an officer found the teenager lying on the couch inside the residence with a single gunshot wound to the abdomen area.

First responders gave medical aid and the victim was transported to Plains Regional Medical Center. She was then transferred to a hospital in Lubbock for further care, the release stated.

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