By Michael D. Hernandez
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — The man who is charged with shooting two El Paso police officers Saturday morning opened fire in a moment of confusion at his Lower Valley home, members of his family said Sunday.
Mauro Nares, 38, faces three counts of criminal attempted capital murder. He is in the El Paso County Jail with bond set at $1.5 million.
Police said Nares wounded officers Andres Guerra and Leovardo Tellez, and fired his .22-caliber rifle at a third officer, Arnulfo Ojeda.
Guerra, a 16-year member of the Police Department, was shot twice in the shoulder. He was released from an area hospital Sunday after surgery to remove a bullet that was lodged in his back.
Tellez, a patrolman with nine months on the job, was shot in his left side. He was treated at a hospital Saturday and released.
At 7:49 a.m. Saturday, the three policemen were checking inside the house at 9921 Moses after a pair of burglary calls were made from the home.
Pascual Nares, who was not at the home when the shooting occurred, said his brother Mauro had placed both calls for police help.
He said his brother never meant to harm police.
“It was wrong but it was not intentional,” Pascual Nares said about Saturday’s shooting.
Pascual Nares said his brother is protective of his parents with whom he lives and always makes sure that their house and their vehicles are secure.
He said Mauro Nares relayed his account of the incident to a friend who spoke to the family Saturday evening.
Mauro Nares told the friend that he woke up Saturday to noises at the home and called police for help.
Officers arrived at the home about 7:21 a.m. and met up with Nares’ parents. They inspected the house, determined that there was no burglary and left.
But Mauro Nares never knew that patrol officers had stopped by and he called the police a second time, his brother said.
When Officers Guerra, Tellez and Ojeda visited the house at 7:46 a.m., Pascual Nares said his mother tried to explain that everything was fine.
But, Pascual Nares said, officers said they needed to closely inspect each room of the house to make sure everyone was safe.
Police spokesman Darrel Petry said the second burglary call indicated that someone was making entry into the home.
Petry said the three officers announced their presence as they checked the house.
Pascual Nares said his brother never heard those announcements.
What he did hear, Pascual Nares said, was a startled mother pleading with someone not to proceed through the hall toward his bedroom.
Mauro Nares began shooting his rifle through the closed door of his bedroom when he thought that burglars were trying to enter, Pascual Nares said.
During the gunfire, Pascual Nares said his parents were taken out of the house by one of the officers.
Police have confirmed that Ojeda pulled Nares’ parents out of the line of fire.
Pascual Nares said that his brother opened his bedroom door and found a wounded police officer lying in the hall. Mauro Nares set the rifle down and scrambled outside to the backyard to try to find his parents, Pascual Nares said.
That is when police officers took Mauro Nares into custody.
Pascual Nares said his parents have been shaken up by the incident and planned to speak to their son in jail on Sunday.
The family is concerned about the condition of the two wounded police officers and they are worried about what could happen to Mauro Nares, Pascual Nares said.
Police continue to investigate the shooting.
Copyright 2009 El Paso Times