A Walmart employee accused by police in a shooting at a Walmart Supercenter in Roswell on Saturday night has been located and arrested.
Joshua Martinez, 18, was found by officers Monday at 4:45 p.m. at an apartment complex in the area of Southeast Main Street and Hobbs Street in southeast Roswell, according to a press release from the Roswell Police Department. .
Martinez is charged with first-degree murder and illegal possession of a handgun. A warrant has also been issued for his arrest.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Chaves County Magistrate Court, Martinez was working at the store at 4501 North Main St. and around 10:20 p.m., an altercation occurred inside the store and Steve Soltero and He is suspected of shooting and killing a 19-year-old man.
The store was evacuated when police arrived. Authorities then searched the store, grounds and nearby areas but were unable to find Martinez.
Neither police nor the criminal complaint filed Monday against Martinez in Chaves County Magistrate Court say what led to the altercation that later turned violent.
The compliant state said Soltero was shot multiple times, including in the lower right arm, neck, right side of the chest, stomach, pelvis and possibly the mouth. He was then taken to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, where he died from his wounds.
Police said surveillance footage moments before the shooting showed Soltero and a woman, later identified as his girlfriend, walking behind a checkpoint line and into the store. Martinez and her girlfriend soon began “exchanging words and gestures” as they approached each other. Investigators said the couple and Martinez soon began pushing each other, then the woman tried to hit Martinez and Soltero ran down another aisle and hid behind a merchandise pallet.
Surveillance video from inside the store shows Martinez pulling a firearm from his backpack and firing a shot after spotting Soltero behind a pallet, police said. Police said the video further shows that Martinez continued firing and walked away after Soltero fell. Police later found a .380-caliber handgun on the pallet.
Store employees later identified the shooter as Martinez based on surveillance video. Detectives also found a week-old video on Martinez’s Instagram account in which the suspect was wearing the same clothes the suspect was wearing in the video and brandishing a gun.
Walmart headquarters told the Roswell Daily Record late Monday that they are working to support employees at the Roswell store by providing on-site counseling services and are cooperating with law enforcement during the investigation.