UPDATE: Socorro Standoff May Be Related To Monday Night Death
By Stephanie Valle
SOCORRO –Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office are investigatingtwo deaths in Socorro late Monday night that may be related as a murder-suicide.
Deputies confirmed they were called out to a home on Holstein Road about a domestic dispute. When they arrived, deputies said, they found a woman with a gunshot wound who later died at the scene.Family andneighbors identified the womanas22-year-old Yvette De La Fuente.
Authorities said they learnedof a man, who was possibly armed, fleeing the scene in a truck. A few hours later, deputies responded to a home about a mile away in whicha man had barricaded himself. That man was identified by family and neighbors as 18-year-old Giovanni Rodriguez.
They learned the man inside may have been the man who fled the home on Holstein. Neighbors had reported hearing popping sounds like gunshots coming from inside the home.
Sheriff’s office negotiators said theyattempted to make contact with the man inside for four hours, trying to coax him out of the house.
Those attempts were unsuccessful and deputies said they then used tear gas canisters to subdue anyone who may have been inside.When officers went inside, they said, they found Rodriguezdead.
Family membersof Rodriguez were visibly shaken by the outcome and said they don’t believe Rodriguez killed himself. Giovanni’s brother Jose said he was never given the opportunity to speak with his brother to assist in ‘talking him out of the home.’
“My brother talked to my brother-in-law on the phone. He said ‘I wanna speak to you and I’ll turn myself in.’ They never let us talk to him. Never, never… ” Jose said.
El Paso Sheriff’s spokesman Rick Glancey assured the public that the investigation into Rodriguez’ exact time and cause of death would be thorough.
“We will know by the Medical Examiner’s report the exact time of death, we will be able to tell the caliber of weapon used. I can tell you none of our officers fired their weapons other than the canisters of gas,” Glancey said.
Officials would not confirm the relationship between Rodriguez and De La Fuente, though one neighbor said Rodriguez and De La Fuente had been dating for about 5 months.
