A Venezuelan migrant has been held pending trial after Chicago police accused him of shooting another migrant with whom he had previously been acquainted in South America.
Tony Briceno Vizcaya, 23, took a gun and went to his former friend’s house in the 7900 block of South Marshfield around 8:30 p.m. Prosecutors said this on Tuesday. Several migrants lived in the apartment, including four adults and two little children.
Vizcaya allegedly went to a bedroom and pushed his 24-year-old former acquaintance into the kitchen at gunpoint, claiming he had “problems” with the victim. Officials claimed he held the victim and witnesses at gunpoint before allowing one of the adults to leave the kitchen to care for the children in another room.
Meanwhile, Vizcaya continued to point the gun at the victim and the other witnesses in the kitchen before firing one shot, striking his old friend in the thigh, according to the charges.
Vizcaya fled in a car while the other migrants called for assistance.
According to the Chicago Police Department’s arrest record, they informed officers that the gunman lived in the 8000 block of South Morgan, near a laundromat. Officers responded and saw Vizcaya arrive in a car and clothing that matched the descriptions supplied by witnesses.
When asked if he had a gun in the car, Vizcaya allegedly responded to officers, “I have my personal weapon.” The police allegedly discovered a.38-caliber pistol in the driver’s door panel. Police say three witnesses identified him as the shooter.
Judge Charles Beach approved the state’s detention motion. Vizcaya faces charges of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and aggravated unauthorized use of a weapon.
He is at least the second migrant arrested for reportedly shooting another migrant in Chicago.
In November, authorities charged Cleber Fernandez, 26, with shooting a 25-year-old male migrant outside the Wadsworth shelter at 6420 South University in Woodlawn. According to officials, both guys lived there and clashed just hours before the incident.
Elvis Diaz-Betancourt, 27, was charged in May with stabbing another migrant during a dispute outside the Standard Club shelter, located at 320 South Michigan in the Loop.