The owner of a neighborhood bar and grocery where seven people were shot to death was arrested and charged with drug trafficking Tuesday, authorities said.
The shootout during a party at the crowded bar apparently was caused by a dispute over drugs between the owner, Wilfredo Semprit Santana, and another person, Police Lt. Rafael Rosa said.
"This person had alleged that he was going to even the score, and he did," Rosa said.
Semprit, who was among 20 people wounded by gunfire in the Oct. 17 attack, was indicted on a federal charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute substances containing heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said.
Police say at least two men barged into Semprit's La Tombola bar in Toa Baja, just west of San Juan, and opened fire on a crowd celebrating the bar's reopening.
Seven people were killed, and those injured included a 9-year girl and a pregnant woman who lost her 8-month-old fetus. Four people remain hospitalized, Toa Baja Mayor Anibal Vega Borges said.
Police said at least five different types of bullets were found at the scene — including those from a Kalashnikov — indicating some people at the bar exchanged fire with the attackers.
Prosecutors plan to file a murder charge for the death of the fetus as well as for the seven adults.
Police are looking for a man they believe is one of the gunmen, although he has not been charged, Rosa said. Puerto Rico's justice secretary recently excused himself from the investigation, saying he had represented the man in an unrelated case when he worked as a defense attorney.
Semprit was released from jail six months ago on probation after serving several years on charges of attempted murder, robbery and kidnapping stemming from a 1990s case tied to drug trafficking, said Rosa, who is investigating the shootings.
Defense attorney Joannie Plaza Martinez said Semprit will appear in court Nov. 9. She declined further comment.
If found guilty, Semprit could face between five to 40 years in prison and up to $2 million in fines.
Initial efforts to investigate the shooting were hindered because witnesses feared to describe the killers, authorities said.
Police had strengthened security at a hospital where the wounded were recovering after the shootings, following anonymous threats that more people would be killed. Semprit, apparently the target of the attack, was one of the first released from the hospital, Rosa said.
Rodriguez said the arrest, the first in the case, should help alleviate fears of more shootings.
"We will continue working ... to prevent further senseless acts of violence which have become all too common in Puerto Rico," she said.
More than 700 people have been killed this year in the U.S. Caribbean territory, and the police chief estimates that 70 percent of killings are tied to drug trafficking.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is helping with the investigation, said Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena.
Source: AP News
