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Man charged with attempted homicide in connection to February shooting in Butler

Four months after a man was shot in the face in Butler, city police accuse someone he lived with of pulling the trigger.

Samuel T. Lopez, 35, who has no known address, was charged Monday, June 3, in relation to the shooting of Jose Rodriguez-Hernandez, 32, at an East Pearl Street residence on Feb. 21.

Rodriguez-Hernandez survived after suffering four wounds from a single bullet that entered through his jaw, police said.

Lopez was charged with felonies criminal attempted homicide and aggravated assault and misdemeanors tampering with evidence and reckless endangerment. A warrant for Lopez’s arrest has been issued. He was not in custody as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Police said they were dispatched at 4:15 p.m. Feb. 21 to a residence in the 300 block of East Pearl Street after Rodriguez-Hernandez was driven to Butler Memorial Hospital with gunshot wound to the face.

Rodriguez-Hernandez was later taken to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh due to the extent of his injuries, police said. Charging documents indicate the bullet entered the right side of his jaw, went down through the left side of his neck into his left shoulder, and exited through the side of his shoulder.

Arriving at the East Peal Street home, police said they saw a steady trail of blood leading from a bedroom inside to a pool of blood in the driveway.

The bed in Rodriguez-Hernandez’s room was saturated with blood, a blood-covered pillowcase was found in his closet, a blood-covered rug was found stuffed in a bathroom drawer, and a mop near the nightstand had dried blood on it, police said.

Outside, police found a pillow, comforter and sheet covered in blood in a garbage can.

Police said when they later viewed body camera footage from the day of the shooting, Lopez was seen carrying a black garbage can.

A bullet hole also was discovered in Rodriguez-Hernandez’s bedroom wall, police said.

During a warranted search, police said a spent bullet, a live round, a black backpack and a safe were found outside the home. According to police, they found a 9 mm Glock handgun, an AR-style rifle and more live rounds in the backpack, gun magazines full of bullets, $14 in cash, a pistol cleaning kit and two spent 9 mm shell casings in the safe.

In Lopez’s room at the residence, a 9 mm round and a gun holster were found.

On Feb. 26, the investigating officer interviewed Rodriguez-Hernandez in the hospital. He was unable to speak due to his injuries, police said, so the interview was conducted using an electronic tablet and pen and paper.

When asked if he knew who shot him, Rodriguez-Hernandez wrote “Samuel Lopez” on a piece of paper, police said. During the interview, police said Rodriguez-Hernandez said it was possible Lopez was mad at him since he refused to give him money a few days before, police said.

Rodriguez-Hernandez also said Lopez had “authority problems” and was not helpful around the house, charging documents show.

Rodriguez-Hernandez recalled returning home from work on Feb. 21 and sitting on his bed when Lopez entered the room and “shot me without saying anything,” police said.

According to police, Rodriguez-Hernandez said Lopez attempted to shoot him twice: “He gave me one and missed one.”

When he realized he was shot, police said Rodriguez-Hernandez called a friend to take him to the hospital and saw Lopez cleaning up the blood.

The gun used in the shooting was described as cream-colored, and Rodriguez-Hernandez said there was a photo of it on his phone, police said.

Police recovered the phone during the warranted search of the residence Feb. 21, and said they obtained permission to open it from Rodriguez-Hernandez.

Photos of a cream-colored Glock, with the serial number matching the one found at the East Pearl Street residence, were discovered on Rodriguez-Hernandez’s phone, police said.

Body camera footage from the day of the shooting viewed on Feb. 27 showed Lopez stopping on the sidewalk with a garbage can and going through his pockets. As he does, police said a live round falls out of his pocket and onto the sidewalk, where officers later found it.

On March 19, police submitted the Glock pistol, two spent shell casings, blood samples, gun shot residue from Lopez, a 9 mm round and spent bullet for testing at the state police lab in Greensburg. The two shell casings were found to have been discharged from the Glock, police said.

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