The corporal who is accused by the parents and neighbors of having fired the shot in the air that killed one-year old baby Marcos Montero Gomez on 25 January was arrested and sent to La Victoria jail. Jacinto Solano Rijo fired the shot to celebrate the win of the Tigres del Licey in Las Flores de Cristo Rey. The agent was arrested at the request of the state prosecutor. He had already been arrested by his superiors in the Police and sent to ordinary justice to be prosecuted for the crime he is accused of. Solano Rijo admitted his guilt. The chief of the Police, Mayor General Bernardo Santana said they are waiting for the lab results. The parents, 31 year old Lisette Rosanna Gomez and 40-year old Victor Montero are accusing the corporal (raso) Solano Rijo. The mother was carrying her baby when she walked out to the balcony of her third floor apartment to observe the late night celebrations. She had to impotently watch her baby die of the bullet wound. In prosecuting the policeman, she expresses her hope that the case will not meet with impunity as has occurred in the past. Victor Montero, father of the deceased baby, said that in the barrio the corporal was nicknamed “the cowboy” because of the many times he had fired into the air without a real reason.
In its Tuesday, 31 January edition, Diario Libre reports that the police is also investigating a police colonel who was alledgedly “carrying” the corporal when the shot was fired.