A man suspected of ambushing two elderly men and killing them in a Houston park has been arrested and charged with capital murder, according to the Houston Police Department.
The men, who have been identified as Nathanael Reyes, 67, and Guadalupe Flores, 74, were taking their daily walk in Wildheather Park around 5:45 am on Friday morning.
Police were called to a shooting scene at the park that morning after a walker found the bodies. Officers found both of the men with multiple gunshot wounds. Both men died at the scene of the shooting, and their vehicles were found in the parking lot, according to FOX 26 Houston.
Investigators described the shooting as an “ambush style” attack.
“As they were walking the trails, it appears that somebody either ambushed them or came up from behind them and fired multiple gunshots into both victims, and even stood over them and fired more gunshots into their body,” HPD investigator Michael Arrington said.
Investigators who reviewed surveillance video said the men had been shot from behind, and that the suspect stood over them and continued to fire after they’d fallen to the ground.
The suspect’s vehicle, a white 4-door sedan, was also spotted on the video. A witness told police that the gunman sped away in a vehicle matching the the vehicle seen on the surveillance video.
Members of the Houston Police Department Southwest Patrol Crime Suppression unit located the suspect’s vehicle on Monday and pulled it over. The driver, 24-year-old Charles Ernest Lopez, was driving the vehicle. He was arrested at the scene and charged with capital murder.
Lopez allegedly admitted to the attack, according to investigators.
It is unclear why Lopez allegedly targeted the men. Arrington said he does not believe the motive was robbery.
“At this point, it does not appear to be robbery because they still had their phones and keys and everything on them,” Arrington said on Friday.
Fuentes’ son, Willie Fuentes, told KHOU that his father was a faith-focused man who tried to instil similar values in his children.
“One thing he instilled in us is faith in Jesus Christ — always trust in the Lord,” he told the broadcaster.
He said that he believes in forgiveness, but also wanted to see the shooter brought to justice.
“It’s just a senseless act of violence … not sure why it would happen … my father would just come and do his walks, that’s about it, just exercising,” Fuentes said.
