'The kid in the white hoodie': New details revealed in deadly Red Sands shooting case

A young man accused in a homicide at Red Sands during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was allegedly seen with a handgun, ended up shot in the groin and had traces of the victim's blood on his pants, court documents stated.

Angel Gallardo, 18, was hanging with friends at a Black Friday desert bonfire when he showed the gun to a witness, telling him "in case we have problems with anybody," stated a complaint affidavit filed by an El Paso County sheriff's detective.

Before the night of Nov. 24 was over, Gallardo allegedly fatally shot 18-year-old Mauricio Elias five times at a close range in the popular desert off-roading site on Montana Avenue beyond the eastern El Paso city limits.

On Saturday, April 6, sheriff's deputies arrested Gallardo on a murder charge following a five-month investigation by detectives with the Major Crimes Unit. Gallardo is incarcerated under a $1 million bond at the El Paso County Jail Downtown. Gallardo has no attorney listed on court records.

Sheriff's officials had said that two other people were wounded in the shooting — apparently one of them was Gallardo, who was shot in the right testicle, according to the complaint document.

Young man killed in Red Sands shooting

At 9:15 p.m. on Nov. 24, deputies responding to a call of a fight in progress and shots fired in the Red Sands desert arrived to find the volunteer medics with Texas Rescue Patrol performing CPR on the mortally wounded Elias, officials and court documents stated. Elias was taken by Life Ambulance to the Hospitals of Providence East Campus off Joe Battle Boulevard, where he died.

Witnesses waiting in the hospital emergency room saw Gallardo enter and recognized seeing him earlier at Red Sand wearing a white hoodie. He did not have on the hoodie when he entered the ER, according to the affidavit.

Gallardo's clothing worn at the ER was held as evidence: black-and-white Jordan sneakers, black jeans, a green with black "Eagles" shirt and underwear.

Cyber crime: 'I have your nudes.' West Texas cyberstalker hacked teens, young women's photos in extortion scheme

Gallardo told investigators he had been at Red Sands, but wouldn't explain how he was shot and claimed someone tried to rob him, the affidavit stated. The document does not say whether Gallardo may have accidentally shot himself in his right testicle, possibly while holstering the handgun.

During surgery, hospital medical staff recovered a 9 mm bullet from Gallardo, which was turned over as evidence, the affidavit stated.

An autopsy found that Elias had five gunshot wounds and two 9 mm bullets were recovered from his torso. Elias also had signs of blunt force trauma around his mouth and chin and possibly soot near the right side of his neck, indicating that he was shot at a close range, the affidavit stated.

Witnesses: Gallardo was 'kid in the white hoodie'

During the course of the investigation in the preceding weeks, witnesses told detectives that Gallardo was seen wearing a white hooded sweater at a bonfire at Red Sands. Gallardo was later identified in a photo lineup.

One witness, who didn't know Gallardo's name, described him as a heavyset "kid" wearing a white hoodie who had shown him a gun and told him "in case we have any problems with anybody," the affidavit stated. An El Paso County Jail log lists Gallardo as 5 feet 7 inches tall, 176 pounds.

The witness told detectives that he later heard gunshots, turned toward the bonfire and saw "the kid in the white hoodie" holstering a handgun and running away, the affidavit stated.

Another witness told investigators that a group of men were hanging out when four teens they didn't know joined them around a bonfire. The teens asked Elias if he knew a certain person on Instagram when a heavyset teen appeared to chamber a round in a gun. The teen wore a white hoodie, black jeans and Jordan sneakers.

Another teenager was holding a rifle and, feeling that something was about to happen, the witness walked away before hearing several gunshots. The witness turned around to see Elias on the ground and the teens running away. The white hoodie teen got into a red all-terrain vehicle and tried to drive away, but eventually ran off on foot, the witness told detectives, according to the affidavit.

Guns thrown out of car on Montana Avenue

On Dec. 14, deputies attempted a traffic stop on gray Kia Optima on Montana Avenue near Rich Beem Boulevard in far East El Paso, the affidavit stated. The Kia continued east for several blocks trying to evade as two guns were thrown out of the car by its passengers until the vehicle stopped. One of the passengers was Gallardo. The guns were recovered and seized.

More: El Paso looks to build new Central police station at former Bonham Elementary School

After the vehicle stop, Gallardo was arrested on an unrelated warrant on an evading arrest charge and taken to Sheriff's Office Headquarters, where he was questioned by detectives regarding the Red Sands fatal shooting.

The affidavit stated that Gallardo admitted being at Red Sands, but claimed he didn't remember anything and could not explain how received a gunshot wound to his groin.

It's unclear if the guns recovered during the traffic stop were ever linked to the Red Sands fatal shooting.

Victim's DNA found on Gallardo's clothing

On Jan. 16, a detective spoke with Gallardo's mother, who was asked whether her son was wearing a sweater on the cold night of the Red Sands shooting. Gallardo's mom told the detective that her son was wearing a white hoodie that night but took it off and used it to apply pressure to his gunshot wound. She said she didn't know what happened to the hoodie, the affidavit stated.

On April 5, the results of forensic DNA analysis conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab in El Paso came back showing traces of DNA belonging to Elias on Gallardo's black jeans, the affidavit stated.

Homicides 2023: Drug, gang overtones tied to El Paso teen's fatal park shooting on Father's Day

Detectives suspect that the DNA was from back spatter when Gallardo allegedly shot Elias at close range. Back spatter is the blood stain pattern projected backwards from the direction of the entrance wound.

On Saturday, Gallardo, who is from the Horizon City area, was arrested in an effort involving the Major Crimes Unit, the Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Targeted Response Unit, known as TRU, from the Peter J. Herrera Patrol Station in Clint.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: New details revealed in Red Sands Thanksgiving murder case