Man charged in quadruple shooting at ABQ sports bar
Aug. 21—ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Detectives have filed an arrest warrant for the man accused in a quadruple shooting that left one man dead last week at an Uptown sports bar.
Javier Vargas-Vasquez, 22, is charged with an open count of murder and three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in the Aug. 12 shooting that left 30-year-old Lawrence Anzures dead. Anzures' friend, a waitress and bystander were also shot in the incident.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:
Officers responded around 9:45 p.m. to a shooting at Ojos Locos Sports Cantina on Louisiana NE at Americas Parkway. They found numerous shell casings and four people shot near the bar entrance. Anzures died at the scene.
Witnesses told police a fight had broken out over one man taking another man's shot of tequila, which led to the gunfire, before the shooter fled in a black car. A manager told police those involved in the fight were all regulars and knew each other.
The manager said Anzures and others were drinking inside when Anzures was given the wrong drink order. She told police a man known as "Mali" told Anzures, "if you're not going to drink it, I'm going to drink it," before taking the shot from Anzures.
The manager said the two began arguing and security removed "Mali" from the bar and a man with a beard, later identified as Vargas-Vasquez, came to pick him up. She told police Vargas-Vasquez went inside the bar and got into "an altercation" with Anzures.
The manager said the group was told to leave and, at the entrance, Anzures and a friend began "beating" Vargas-Vasquez. She told police she pulled the men off Vargas-Vasquez before he began firing at the two men.
Anzures was shot twice, his friend was shot three times, a waitress was shot in the hand and a customer near the entrance was shot in the back. The friend told police from his hospital bed that Vargas-Vasquez had an extended clip in the gun.
Three separate people at the scene picked Vargas-Vasquez out as the shooter in a photo lineup.
