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Shooting a 'shock' to quiet neighborhood
Residents say friendly weekend turned hostile at dark
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FarkFriendly chatter turned into intense arguing over the course of the day at the Rapid City residence where a shooting occurred Saturday evening, according to a woman who lives in the neighborhood.
Antoinette Thurston lives at 1510 Fifth St., about three houses down from where police say the fatal shooting occurred about 9:15 p.m. Saturday. She said she could hear a loud party going on at the residence throughout the day.
She heard loud voices coming from the backyard as early as 1 or 2 p.m., but what appeared to be friendly chatter turned into hostile yelling as the evening drew near.
"It seemed to be fine all day. But then at about 6:30 or 7 (p.m.) you could start to hear them argue," she said.
Thurston said she could hear numerous people arguing, including a spat in which a woman appeared to be trying to calm a man down.
She said she had driven by the residence earlier in the day to run various errands and noticed a large group of people in the backyard. The people appeared to be barbequing and drinking, she said.
The Rapid City Police Department on Monday said officers were called to a fight at 1520 Fifth St. about 9:15 p.m. Saturday. After the officers arrived, they heard a gunshot.
Police said that Paul Ortiz, 44, of Rapid City suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Jesus Torres, 41, also of Rapid City, is in custody at the Pennington County Jail after being arrested early Sunday morning on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Police said that the people involved in the incident were associates and that the incident appears to be isolated. People at the scene of the incident were exchanging insults and profanities.
Thurston said the incident scared her because her nieces and nephews had been playing in her yard for most of the day Saturday. Luckily, they were not outside at the time of the shooting, she said.
"It's just kind of scary that a stray bullet could have come this way," she said.
She said the residence where the shooting occurred has been very quiet in the past, as has the rest of the neighborhood in general.
Connie Escott, who lives across the street from the residence, agreed that the neighborhood is typically pretty quiet. She has lived in the area for 20 years and has seen very little trouble during that time.
Escott, who called the shooting a "tragedy," said the incident scared her at first, but said she is not concerned about her long-term safety in the neighborhood.
She said the residents of 1520 Fifth St. have not lived there very long and not made much noise.
"(I) don't remember ever seeing them," she said. "They were very much to themselves."
Escott said she came out of her house briefly when the police arrived Saturday. She had not heard a gunshot but grew concerned when the police swarmed the area.
"It was kind of frightening," she said. "I thought maybe there was somebody on the loose with a gun."
Thurston said she had left her house early in the evening before the shooting occurred. Her 18-year-old daughter, Sharisse, was at their household right before and after the incident.
She said she went to Blockbuster Video to rent some movies at 8:30; when she came back at 9:30, the area was swarming with police and her house was taped off in yellow tape, she said.
She said she also saw a man in a police car, yelling out the window for police to let him out. The man said something about how his brother was dead, she said.
Thurston said the incident was a "shock," especially because it appeared as though the only thing that was going on at the house for much of the day was a regular barbeque.
"It just seemed like everybody was having fun," she said.
The victim of the shooting, Paul Ortiz, is survived by his wife, four children, 10 grandchildren and two parents. His obituary notice is on page C2.
Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com.
A Rapid City Police officer detains a person on Fifth Street between St. Cloud and Franklin street on Saturday night after a possible shooting occurred in the area. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)
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