Police: Man used drugs before shooting pregnant girlfriend on Blue Diamond Road

By Jackie Valley

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011 | 2:02 p.m.

The man shot by Metro Police on Thursday after a shootout on Blue Diamond Road had used cocaine, marijuana and alcohol prior to the incident, according to an arrest report released Tuesday.

Jose Castro Jr., 29, of Chandler, Ariz., is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center in connection with two counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon and one count each of battery with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm at or into a structure or vehicle.

Castro allegedly opened fire using a shotgun on Blue Diamond Road near Interstate 15, striking his pregnant girlfriend as she fled their vehicle and hitting the front end of a passing motorist's car, according to the arrest report.

Castro, his girlfriend, Beatriz Calleros, and his two cousins, Fidel Castro Jr. and Ramone "Chaco" Castro-Duarte, were staying at a Motel 6 on Tropicana Avenue while celebrating Castro's birthday in Las Vegas, his cousins told police.

The group decided to head back to Arizona when Castro began to act irrationally after taking the drugs, according to the arrest report. In their sport utility vehicle, Castro allegedly began yelling at and hitting Calleros, prompting Fidel Castro Jr. to pull over on the Blue Diamond Road exit off the southbound lanes of Interstate 15.

Castro then grabbed a shotgun and allegedly began firing at his girlfriend, cousins, passing motorists and eventually police. The motorist whose car was hit called 911 at a nearby Jack in the Box restaurant, where his cousins had fled, police said in the report.

Police on Thursday said Calleros' injuries were critical, but she was expected to survive.

The officers involved in the shooting — William C. Gibbs, 43, and John B. Leith Jr., 41 — were placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation. They were both assigned to Metro's traffic bureau.