Man shot in game room parking lot

Ector County Sheriff’s deputies had a busy Thursday thanks to a shooting, a fight involving a tire iron and an apparent road rage incident involving a gun.

According to the ECSO, deputies received a 911 call around 11 p.m. Thursday about a man being shot during a disturbance in the parking lot of a game room in the 10000 block of West University Boulevard. When they arrived, they found a 31-year-old man with a gunshot wound being tended by two people.

Deputies cared for the man until paramedics arrived and he was taken to Medical Center Hospital. His current condition was not available.

Nathaniel Ochoa

According to an arrest affidavit, Nathaniel Ochoa, 27, was seen on surveillance video retrieving a pistol and firing it several times, striking the victim. Witnesses also identified Ochoa as the shooter.

Investigators believe the shooting was due “to an ex-spouse issue,” an ECSO press release stated.

Ochoa, who has denied his involvement, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and on a warrant in a drug possession case. He remains in the Ector County jail on surety bonds totaling $75,000.

The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are expected.

Deputies were also summoned to the 400 block of East Mulberry Thursday about a disturbance. While en route, they were told a man was chasing another man around with a tire iron.

When the deputies arrived, a 25-year-old man told them that he and his cousin, Darby Elkins, 22, were arguing when Elkins left the home they shared, grabbed a tire iron and broke his windshield.

According to the report, Elkins began chasing him with the tire iron after he confronted him. The man told deputies Elkins then got into his Ford Exhibition and began chasing him.

The men’s landlord corroborated the man’s story.

Elkins was booked into the Ector County jail on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/family violence around 3:45 p.m. Thursday. He remains in custody on a $50,000 surety bond.

Also on Thursday, deputies were called to the area of Highway 302 and Yukon Road about a “rolling disturbance.” While en route, deputies were told a man in a maroon Cadillac was following a 52-year-old man who was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher and that the driver of the Cadillac had pointed a gun at him.

Deputies spotted the two vehicles in the 10000 block of West 42nd Street and noticed the Cadillac was driving “very close” to the 911 caller, according to an ECSO report.

Deputies pulled over the Cadillac at gunpoint and Anthony Miller, 21, was taken into custody without incident.

Miller admitted to deputies he had a handgun in his car, the report stated.

The 911 caller told deputies the driver of the Cadillac had been weaving and wouldn’t let him pass, even forcing him off the roadway at Highway 302 and FM 1936, the report stated.

The man also told deputies he’d forced the Cadillac off the road once and Miller pointed a gun at him. According to the report, the alleged victim told deputies when he pulled over near West Yukon and Highway 302, the man turned the Caddy around, drove up to his vehicle and pointed the gun at him again.

The 911 caller told deputies the same man had also pulled a gun on him on Feb. 18 and was driving the same car at that time, according to the report.

Deputies found a gun in the Caddy between the passenger seat and the center console along with an extra magazine and a round of ammunition.

Miller was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday. He remains in the Ector County jail on a $50,000 surety bond.