One suspect has been arrested and another is still at large more than 30 hours after the pair allegedly shot up a Kansas City bar, killing four people and wounding five others.
Javier Alatorre, 23, was arrested late Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri.
As of early Monday morning, police are still looking for 29-year-old Hugo Villanueva-Morales, who is considered ‘armed and dangerous’.
Both men have been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and their bail was set at $1 million.
One of the men apparently had a disagreement with a bartender inside Tequila KC Bar on Saturday night and returned half an hour before closing with the other man, both of them wielding handguns, according to police and witness accounts.
The bartender said the bar’s bouncer had not turned up to work that night.
Javier Alatorre, 23, (left) was arrested late Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri. Police are still looking for 29-year-old Hugo Villanueva-Morales (right)
Police released grainy surveillance photos of both suspects entering Tequila KC Bar before they allegedly opened fire inside the venue, killing four and wounding five others
One of the men apparently had a disagreement with a bartender inside Tequila KC Bar on Saturday night and returned half an hour before closing with the other man, both of them wielding handguns, according to police and witness accounts
One of the suspects is seen in a surveillance photo released by police
Both of the suspects appeared to be wearing baseball jerseys in the surveillance photos
Detectives were reviewing surveillance video and interviewing witnesses Sunday morning
Gunfire erupted inside the small bar at 1.30am, sending 40 or so patrons running for the exits, with the injured leaving trails of blood in their wake.
Officers arrived on the scene within minutes and found four men dead.
They have not released any names of the deceased – one in their late 50s, one in their mid 30s and two in their mid 20s.
Family members identified 29-year-old Alfredo Calderon as one of the victims.
‘We’re just in shock and disbelief,’ Calderon’s uncle, Juan Ramirez told the Kansas City Star.
‘I don’t wish this upon anybody.’
Calderon leaves behind a six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.
Tomasic said all four men killed were Hispanic – but police do not believe the shooting was racially motivated.
Detectives are reviewing surveillance footage and speaking with witnesses to determine what happened inside the bar.
‘Even though they were there, everybody has a little bit different story,’ Tomasic said.
‘We think there was something that happened in the bar earlier probably. Unfortunately, they left and decided to take it to another level, came back and started shooting.
‘It’s a pretty small bar, so if you have two guys come in and start shooting, people are just running, running anywhere they can.’
Gunfire erupted inside the small bar at 1.30am Sunday, sending 40 or so patrons running for the exits. Officers arrived on the scene within minutes and found four men dead
Family members identified 29-year-old Alfredo Calderon (above) as one of the victims
Calderon’s uncle Juan Ramirez confirmed that the 29-year-old was one of the four people killed in the shooting. He said Calderon (left and right) left behind a six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter
Michael Barajas Jr (right) was shot in the shoulder blade. He was one of five people injured
Bartender Jose Valdez told the KC Star that he had refused to serve one of the suspects hours before the shooting because the man had previously caused problems at the bar.
Valdez said the man threw a cup at him and left, but returned later with another man shortly before closing time.
He said the gunfire filled the bar with smoke and he was left fearing the building was ‘going to cave in’.
Barajas Jr (pictured) said he was looking around the bar trying to see where the bullets were coming from when one hit him
The shots sent the 40 or so people inside running for the exits as the injured left trails of blood in their wake.
‘I don’t know what to make of it. A sad day for everybody who lost their lives and their families,’ Valdez said as he choked back tears.
‘How can you go into a place full of people and just start shooting?’
Michael Barajas Jr, 31, was also at Tequila KC when the shooting occurred.
‘They went off so quick I didn’t think it was gunshots,’ Barajas Jr told the KC Star.
He was looking around the room trying to see where the bullets were coming from when one hit him in the shoulder blade.
‘I feel like I should have moved a little quicker but there was shock,’ he said.
Barajas Jr ran out of the bar and texted his fiancée: ‘I’ve been shot’ before watching police rope off the scene.
He and four others injured patrons were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
At least two of them have since been released.
Bartender Jose Valdez told the KC Star that he had refused to serve one of the suspects hours before the shooting because the man had previously caused problems at the bar
The owner of Tequila Bar KC said a security guard was supposed to be manning the door but did not show up for work Saturday night
Several people at the scene Sunday morning described the bar as a beloved local hot spot
Loved ones gathered near the bar Sunday morning, clinging to each other and crying as firefighters hosed blood off the pavement.
Toni Maciel, 36, told the KC Star she knew seven of the nine people shot.
She echoed Valdez’ account, saying that one of the shooters had gotten into an altercation at the bar beforehand.
‘He left because they kind of kicked him out, but he wouldn’t leave. He was persistent,’ Maciel said.
‘It took about four people to kick him out. After that, maybe an hour or two later, he came back and this happened. He wasn’t by himself. He had somebody else with him.’
Maciel said that she knows the wife of one of the alleged shooters. She claimed that he had been violent toward his wife during a karaoke event last Thursday.
She said she hopes the gunmen are apprehended soon.
‘These people don’t know what they did,’ Maciel said. ‘They took a brother, a dad, a son, somebody. It’s not right.’
Shay Celedon said she was at the bar with friends when one of the two suspected shooters started a fight.
Celedon told the KC Star the man was yelling and appeared intoxicated.
Hours later she learned that the man and his associate had shot and killed her friend’s fiancé.
She said the friend put pressure on her fiancé’s wound and gave him CPR, trying to save life.
‘She held her husband until he took his last breath,’ Celedon said.
One of Celedon’s relatives was shot in the collar bone but is expected to survive.
Several people gathered near the scene Sunday morning as police conducted an investigation
A coroner is seen loading one of the bodies into a white van outside the bar
Several people at the scene Sunday morning described Tequila KC as a beloved local hot spot.
‘This was a home away from home, you could say,’ Maciel said. ‘But after this, I don’t know what would happen with our community.’
Valdez said three of the people killed were regulars whose parents also frequented the bar, while the fourth victim was there for the first time.
‘We lost some good people, young people,’ Valdez said.
A vigil for the victims is scheduled for 7pm Sunday.
Tomasic said Tequila KC is a private, members-only venue, but the owner told local media that it became public after changing its name a while back.
The bar is located in a largely Hispanic neighborhood in southwest Kansas City.
The owner said a security guard was supposed to be manning the door but did not show up for work Saturday night.
Tequila KC (pictured) is located in a largely Hispanic neighborhood in southwest Kansas City
Posted on the door of the bar near 10th Street and Central Avenue is a sign banning firearms
Kansas City Mayor David Alvey briefly addressed the media near the scene on Sunday morning.
‘It’s a sad day for all those involved,’ Alvey said.
‘The businesses and the families who live in these neighborhoods are growing in our community and they deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods.
‘Their businesses deserve to be protected and our police department really has done an outstanding job of working with the community to identify the problems and to come up with solutions.’
Kansas Gov Laura Kelly tweeted: ‘My thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends after a mass shooting early this morning in a Kansas City, Kan., bar tragically left four people dead and five more wounded. We are closely monitoring the situation with the help of local law enforcement.’
Rep Sharice Davids, a Democrat who represents the area where the shooting took place, tweeted that her ‘heart breaks for everyone impacted’.
News of the shooting – which is the 324th so far this year, according to Gun Violence Archive – was met with countless calls for gun reform on social media.
Know any of victims of this shooting? Contact megan.sheets@mailonline.com.