West Valley City • Hugo Padilla calmly wheeled a cart full of groceries out from behind the police tape cordoning off the store where he and his family had been shopping Wednesday afternoon.
On his yellow polo shirt, just beneath his chest, was a red smattering of his 3-year-old daughter’s blood.
“I didn’t see the gun,” Padilla said. “I just heard the shots, and my wife and my daughter start crying.”
Padilla immediately grabbed his daughter Esmeralda, who began to complain about her leg and her stomach. Amid the calamity, Padilla said, he realized his daughter had been hit. It was another blow to the little girl, who’d been visiting Utah since November to treat cancer in her kidney.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Hugo Padilla stands with his son Erik and explains to reporters what happened inside a Smith's grocery store on Redwood Road, Wednesday, April 11, 2018. His wife and child were wounded as a suspect opened fire in the store.
Padilla’s wife, Erika Ortega, and another woman were injured, too. Police said the three victims were hit in their legs.
Officers took the suspected shooter, 36-year-old Rufino Joseph Cervantez, into custody from a nearby apartment complex a few hours later, West Valley City police said. The man was wheeled away on a stretcher, taken to a hospital for treatment after he shot his own leg. Police believe the bullet fragmented and struck the three victims.
Cervantez, who had been convicted of felonies in California, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail Wednesday night on suspicion of felony discharge of a firearm that resulted in an injury, three counts of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury and possession of firearm by a restricted person. Bail was set at $45,000.
(Photo courtesy of Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office) Rufino Cervantez
As of Wednesday evening, police weren’t sure why the bullet was fired at the Redwood Road Smith’s near 4100 South.
Deputy Police Chief Matt Elson said Cervantez walked up to the store about 2 p.m., fired near the entrance area, then fled northwest.
Padilla said that as he and his family were getting ready to leave the store, the man yelled and, moments later, the women and girl were hit.
As Padilla spoke with reporters, his 1-year-old son sipped juice and sat quietly in the grocery cart seat. The man explained that his family was from Las Vegas and was in Utah, getting treatment for Esmeralda.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Hugo Padilla puts his son Erik and his groceries in his car after his wife and daughter were wounded at a Smith's grocery store on Redwood Road when a gunman opened fire in the store, Wednesday, April 11, 2018.
Padilla copied his son’s calm demeanor, patiently relaying his story. But on the inside, the man said, he was shaking.
“I feel worried for my daughter because she has cancer,” he said, adding, “I feel scared also because it was very close to me and my family.”
Padilla said he didn’t know Cervantez.
After the shooting, residents in the Redwood Apartments, Shadowbrook Apartments and Somerset Apartments were told to stay where they were while officers searched the area. Police lifted the order just before 4:15 p.m. Nearby schools were also locked down.
About an hour later, police found Cervantez in an apartment at the Shadowbrook complex.
(Courtesy Hugo Padilla) Esmeralda Padilla, 3, lies on a hospital bed after being shot in the leg Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at Smith's grocery store, 4065 S. Redwood Rd. Padilla was shot along with her mother, 32-year-old Erika Ortega, and another woman.
On Wednesday evening, Padilla sent out a photo of his 3-year-old lying in a hospital bed, wires and monitors adhered to Esmeralda’s body. Tears clung to her cheek, just below her short, dark hair. A red shrapnel wound was visible just below her diaper, as was a red mark on her stomach.
“It’s a hard time for us, but thank God we are OK,” Padilla texted a Salt Lake Tribune reporter.
Doctors decided to leave a bullet fragment in the girl’s leg, her father said, because surgery would do more harm than good.
The hospital discharged Ortega and Esmeralda on Wednesday night.
Utah court records show that Cervantez is currently on probation to the Tooele County Justice Court, where he pleaded guilty in January to class B misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. At the time of his plea, Cervantez was sentenced to one year of probation and a $3,600 fine.
In the marijuana possession case, Cervantez was initially charged in 3rd District Court with third-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute after he was stopped by police on Interstate 80 last December with two pounds of marijuana in his car. A month later, the case was dismissed and transferred to the justice court.
Cervantez also has a $450 warrant for failing to appear in South Jordan Justice Court judge last month in connection with a citation for following too close, an infraction. After failing to appear, the city prosecutor charged Cervantez with class B misdemeanor failure to appear.
Cervantez also has a 2001 conviction in West Valley City’s justice court for class B misdemeanor carrying a concealed dangerous weapon.
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