Charge downgraded against 21-Year-Old accused of shooting at two teens in Coachella

An attempted murder charge was downgraded to a felony count of assault with a gun for a 21-year-old suspect previously accused of shooting at two Coachella teenagers, authorities said today.

Salomon "Bookie" Cruz-Rodriguez Jr. had been accused of attempted murder in connection with a parking lot shooting on Feb. 17, 2023, according to a declaration in support of arrest warrant filed by Riverside County Sheriff's Department Deputy Michael McTigue.  

Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office confirmed that a judge did not find enough evidence to hold him to answer on the attempted murder count, instead ordering Cruz Rodriguez to stand trial of an assault with a gun charge on Thursday. He is due back at the Larson Justice Center in Indio for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment on Jan. 7, according to case records.   

An attempted murder charge against co-defendant David "Real Shooter" Rodriguez, 26, was dismissed in July.   

McTigue said he responded to the shooting in the parking lot between two businesses in the 49000 block of Grapefruit Boulevard in Coachella to several reports of subjects arguing and shooting at each other. When deputies arrived on the scene, they claimed to have found various 9mm and .22-caliber spent casings.   

An alleged victim in the shooting said he and a friend were exiting a buffet restaurant when they heard a car door slam and saw gang members later identified as Cruz-Rodriguez, Rodriguez and a third unknown male, according to McTigue. They reported that Cruz-Rodriguez and the unidentified male were clutching what the alleged victim believed to be firearms, so he ran away from the suspects through the parking lot.  

``When (the alleged victim) ran away, he heard 6-7 gunshots immediately behind him and heard bullets `whiz' past him,'' McTigue wrote in the affidavit. ``He heard the bullets impact the ground and a wall near him as he ran.''

The uninjured reporting party said he didn't see anyone else who could have shot at him, but was in fear of his life thinking that they were trying to kill him. His friend ran away in a separate direction.

During the investigation, the alleged victims were identified as then- 16-year-old and 17-year-old residents of Coachella.   

Cruz-Rodriguez was arrested in March 2023 with an unidentified then-14- year-old juvenile, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Rodriguez had a warrant out for his arrest at the time.

Cruz-Rodriguez was booked at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, but inmate records indicate that he was released on October 2023. The 14-year-old was booked into a juvenile hall on suspicion of attempted murder -- it was not immediately clear if those charges were amended too.