The man who critically injured a bartender while shooting into a Greeley bar after hours Saturday morning fired 59 rounds into the building less than an hour after he had been kicked out of the bar for fighting, according to arrest records.
Police arrested 32-year-old Jimmy Cazares on suspicion of a slew of felony charges on Saturday after he fled to a relative’s house following the shooting.
Just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Greeley police responded to a shooting at Wyler’s Pub & Grill, 2385 27th St., Unit 513. While en route, officers learned that a woman had been shot in the neck and was in critical condition, according to the affidavit for Cazares’ arrest. At that point, police received multiple reports of two men fleeing the scene carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Police made no other mention of the second person, and Weld County arrest records show no other arrests on that date connected to the incident. Police did not respond to questioning Monday afternoon about a second suspect.
When officers arrived on scene, they performed life-saving measures until emergency medical personnel arrived, according to the affidavit. The 38-year-old woman underwent multiple surgeries, according to Wyler’s, and is expected to survive.
Police were then made aware that one of the men fleeing hopped a fence into the yard of a residence in the 2300 block of 25th Street Road. While officers were responding to that address, another caller — identified as Cazares’ aunt — reported Cazares came to her house holding a rifle, crying and saying the police were after him, according to the affidavit.
Cazares’ aunt took the rifle and hid it from him before calling, telling police she did so to show that Cazares was unarmed and would come out of the house to officers. He was arrested and taken to the Greeley Police Department — along with his aunt, who faces no charges — for questioning.
While at the department, Cazares’ aunt told police that she was asleep when he showed up at her house, frantically knocking on all her doors and windows, according to the affidavit. Police say she told them she knew it was him because he said, “Tia, open the door.”
She said he was crying and carrying what was later discovered to be a non-serialized — commonly referred to as a ghost gun — AR-15, according to the affidavit. Ghost guns are typically assembled from kits or 3D-printed parts and lack serial numbers, making them difficult to trace.
Cazares told officers that he was involved in an altercation with another man earlier in the night and admitted to shooting at the bar because he was upset that he was kicked out, the affidavit states.
While still at Wyler’s, officers reviewed security footage from earlier in the night, which showed Cazares and another man involved in a physical fight before they were kicked out of the bar. About 40 minutes had passed from when Cazares was kicked out and when he returned, allowing him time to leave and retrieve the firearm, according to police.
Officers also learned a second employee was in the bar during the shooting but was not struck.
The AR-15 Cazares used had a high-capacity 60-round drum magazine, police reported. Cazares shot 59 rounds into the front of the bar, with the 60th ending up in his pocket — along with 11.2 grams of cocaine, according to the affidavit.
The cocaine later tested presumptive positive and the live round in his pocket matched the spent casings collected on scene.
At one point while speaking with police, Cazares referenced the bar being empty when he shot at it, according to the affidavit.
Cazares was taken to a hospital for evaluation after the fight, then booked into the Weld County Jail.
He was arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, drug possession as a special offender, illegal discharge of a firearm, use of a large-capacity magazine during a crime and possession of a weapon by a previous offender — all felony charges, according to Colorado court records. He also faces a misdemeanor charge for prohibited use of a weapon while drunk, records show. The Weld District Attorney’s Office has until 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to formally file the charges.
A friend of the victim set up a GoFundMe to help support her, her husband and their three children.
“(She) is currently facing a long road to recovery, including multiple surgeries and extended hospitalization,” the GoFundMe page read. “(She) and her husband have three wonderful children, and while her husband deeply wants to be by her side during this difficult time, he’s also feeling the heavy weight of needing to provide for their family.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the fundraiser had raised about $8,000 of its $20,000 goal. To donate, go to gofund.me/027c51cc.
Wyler’s closed for a few days while starting to repair the damages and to give employees time to process what happened and recover as best as possible. The pub plans to reopen at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
“We will be repairing the damage they’ve done,” the bar wrote in a Facebook post. “Both physically and emotionally.”
Police ask anyone with any information to contact Detective Michael Shea at 970-351-5000 or Michael.Shea@GreeleyPD.com.
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