Police: Man Shoots Rock-Thrower In Buttocks In Self-Defense

A 30-year-old man was leaving Mesilla Valley Mall with his girlfriend and two children Wednesday when he noticed a Honda traveling erratically. The man told the Honda's driver to slow down, and heated words were exchanged.

The man told police he armed himself with a handgun he is legally permitted to carry. As the family drove off, a Honda passenger threw a rock and shattered a window in the man's vehicle.

Believing his window was hit by gunfire, the man fired and struck a 20-year-old Honda passenger in the buttocks.

Minutes later, the fleeing Honda ran a red light at Triviz and crashed into another vehicle as it crossed Missouri. No major injuries were reported as a result of the crash.

The 20-year-old of the Honda Accord was found to have a bullet wound to his buttocks. He was taken to University Medical Center of El Paso with non-life-threatening injuries.

An investigation is continuing, but police said no charges are expected to be filed against the man who fired his handgun.

Detectives said criminal charges against the occupants of the Honda are possible.

"This could have potentially been much worse than what it was, we have one person with a gunshot wound, we have an automobile crash and obviously the victims, the family, in the vehicle they had a rock thrown at them," said Las Cruces Police Department spokesman Dan Trujillo.

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