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OREM — A man is accused of firing a shot at his brother-in-law during an argument. Police say the shot ended up in another relative's home.
Angel Gil Guevara, 41, was arrested early Wednesday for investigation of attempted murder, illegal discharge of a firearm, tampering with evidence and domestic violence in the presence of a child.
The investigation began about 10:50 p.m. Tuesday when someone called 911 from the area of 950 West and 700 North in Orem and "reported that bullets were flying when his parents got home and he needed cops" and then hung up the phone, according to a police booking affidavit.
Officers responded to the area but could not find anything. A little over an hour later, police "received a 911 call from the same number from someone yelling in Spanish before hanging up multiple times," the affidavit states. This time, officers found a woman who allegedly claimed she had a fight with her husband who threw a chair at her before leaving their duplex.
At about 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, police were called back to the same duplex but, this time, to the adjacent home. A woman, who is related to the others, told officers she was sleeping and heard a loud "bang" from next door.
"When she awoke, she located the bullet hole in the shared wall and the bullet on the living room floor. I observed the hole in the wall, drywall debris on a nearby couch, and a 9 mm slug on carpet floor on the other side of the couch," the officer wrote in the affidavit.
As detectives tried to sort through what had happened, they learned Guevara and his wife got into an argument about the wife's brother, who lives with them. The wife then brought her brother into the argument, according to the affidavit.
"When (the brother) started to yell loudly and become increasingly more angry, Angel stated that he grabbed a black Glock handgun, at which point (the brother) ran away and Angel pointed the gun at the wall and fired a shot," the affidavit states.
Guevara allegedly claimed "he actually tried to chamber a round into the gun and accidentally discharged the firearm" and later claimed he was acting in self-defense, according to the affidavit.
His wife, after initially lying to police, allegedly told officers Guevara got "very angry" after her brother got involved in their argument. When Guevara went to retrieve a gun from a bedroom, "she grabbed Angel's hand to stop him from pointing the gun at anyone and struggled over the gun briefly. Angel shook (his wife) off and fired the gun wildly at the living room wall," the affidavit states. The wife allegedly said, "Angel acts impulsively on his anger and may have impulsively pointed the gun at (her brother) or shot him if (she) hadn't stopped him."
Domestic violence resources
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
