Mario Garcia still carries the bullet in his head as he recovers at home from a recent shooting in Keizer.
“The doctors told us what we already believe – this is nothing short of a miracle,” said his wife, Julissa Cruz, in a social media post.
Garcia, 28, a delivery driver, was one of two people shot in an unsolved crime the night of Monday, Feb. 9, in Keizer Station. Police continue to investigate but have arrested no suspect and haven’t identified the second victim, who was walking at the time.
They did make an arrest in what they said was an unrelated shooting just hours later in the same area.
Cruz described in an interview the “traumatic” night.
She said she and her husband had been to the gym that night. They picked up their children, ages 2 and 7, from her mother’s home and loaded them into the rear seat of the family vehicle.
They stopped at In-N-Out Burger in Keizer Station and then at about 10:30 p.m. headed for their Salem home.
Garcia paused at the intersection of Northeast Ulali Drive and Keizer Station Boulevard, waiting to turn left and go home.
No other cars were at the intersection but Cruz later recalled seeing three people dressed in black standing on a corner.
Then there were “so many gunshots,” Cruz said, estimating the number at 10. She said they didn’t see who fired the shots.
She said two bullets shattered the rear window of the vehicle. Her husband “felt something hit him.”
“At the moment, he didn’t think about it,” Cruz said. “He drove to get the kids and I out of the scene.”
Familiar with Keizer, Cruz drove two miles to the Keizer Fire District station on Northeast Chemawa Road, parking outside and honking.
There, medics took him to Salem Hospital for treatment of the bullet wound while Cruz remained at the fire hall to tell police what she knew.
Cruz said the bullet lodged in her husband’s scalp, and doctors for the time being elected to leave it in place.
“Now, he faces a long road of rest, healing and recovery,” Garcia said in a Gofundme fundraising post. “This has left us shaken emotionally and facing unexpected medical expenses, time off work and ongoing care needs.”
Cruz credited God, who “was present that night, even in the scariest moment of our lives.”
SECOND SHOOTING
Officers responded at 3 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, to a report of a man menacing a Sysco delivery driver.
Wenning said a gunman confronted the driver, who managed to lock himself inside the HopsnDrops restaurant at the intersection where the earlier shooting occurred.
The gunman shot the delivery truck’s tires, windows and cargo space and the business itself.
Subsequently, a man called 911 to report that his car with a handgun in it had been stolen from Keizer Station.
Wenning said police established that the caller was in fact the shooter.
Keith A. Winans, 42, listed by police as a transient, was arrested Tuesday afternoon for menacing, unlawful use of a weapon, attempted burglary and criminal mischief. He was also accused of initiating a false police report.
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