Modestan faces attempted-murder charge after Ceres Wal-Mart shooting

A Modesto man faces a charge of attempted murder after firing twice at two Wal-Mart loss-prevention officers who removed him and a female companion from the store Sunday afternoon, Ceres police say.

Tomas Armendariz Jr., 39, is being held on $500,000 bail. He also faces a charge of being a felon or narcotic addict in possession of a firearm. He and Jessica Long, 35, were caught after leading police on a pursuit, crashing their vehicle and attempting to carjack another, police say. Long, also of Modesto, was booked and later released on a citation for resisting arrest.

At about 4:38 p.m. Sunday, Ceres police responded to a report of a shooting at the Wal-Mart at 1670 Mitchell Road. After being led out of the store on allegations they were committing theft, Armendariz and Long went to their car in the parking lot, police say. Armendariz pulled out a .223-caliber long rifle and fired two rounds in the direction of the loss-prevention officers, who remained by the front entrance, police said.

Police were unable to recover the slugs, said Sgt. Danny Vierra, but one struck the windshield of another vehicle in the parking lot. No one was struck by the gunfire, and Armendariz and Long fled in their gold Pontiac Grand Am.

Ceres officers quickly located the car on Mitchell Road, according to a news release. They attempted a traffic stop, but Armendariz did not pull over. The pursuit ended when the Pontiac crashed near the Faith Home Road overpass in Keyes. Armendariz and Long ran, and Armendariz tried to carjack another motorist driving in the area, but officers intervened.

The rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was found in the Pontiac, police say.

Long called The Bee on Monday afternoon to dispute the police account. She said she, not Armendariz, fired the gun, and she aimed into the air, not at the Wal-Mart employees. Vierra said witnesses and the windshield indicate otherwise.

“They’re putting it on him because of his criminal past. This is wrong,” she said.

She also said they were not being removed from the store for stealing but because she was in a dispute with store staff. Long said she’d been humiliated in front of other customers Friday and was filing a complaint against the store. She was there Sunday to get the name of the employee who humiliated her, but after being kept waiting on a manager for 45 minutes, she said, she “snapped. I don’t know what was in me.”

Sunday’s shooting resulted in the Wal-Mart being closed “a little more than three hours,” said Charles Crowson, senior manager of corporate communications for Wal-Mart.

He referred questions about the crime to the Ceres Police Department and issued only a short statement: “We take threats to the safety of our customers and associates seriously. We’re thankful that no one was injured, and are appreciative of local police for their quick response and arrest of the suspect. We’ll work closely with local law enforcement as they continue their investigation.”

Anyone with information on the incident may remain anonymous and is encouraged to call the Police Department’s tip line at 209-538-5740 or Detective Bryan Ferreira at 209-538-5616.

This story was originally published November 14, 2016 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Modestan faces attempted-murder charge after Ceres Wal-Mart shooting."