Shooting of Soldier Followed a Scuffle, Victim’s Friend Says

The soldier home on leave from Iraq who was shot in the face near Lake Elsinore on Thursday was wounded as a friend tried to wrestle the gun away from a stranger angry about a toilet-papering prank, the friend said Monday.

Army Spc. Daniel Alvarado Jr., 25, was in stable condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center after being shot while keeping an eye on his nieces, ages 16, 14, and 11, and their friends as they engaged in a harmless joke, friends and family said.

“He’s doing real well right now, but the swelling is still bad,” said Alvarado’s father, Daniel.

The soldier’s father said his son and the son’s longtime friend, Robert Limon, had gone out shortly after midnight Thursday with the girls.

“Everybody’s been going TPing for generations. It’s a part of growing up, “ said Alvarado’s father. “The 11-year-old was so excited. It was her first big-kid adventure.”

The adventure almost turned deadly when a neighbor, angered by the prank even though his house was not touched, chased the group in his truck.

Limon said he saw the gun in Aubrey Weldon’s lap. Weldon cocked the gun and pointed it toward them, Limon said.

“It happened so fast,” said Limon, 22, of Temecula. “I see the gun and him cocking the hammer on it.... I heard the gun go ‘chk, chk.’ That’s when I moved my left hand and grabbed his right arm. He fired off a round. It grazed my head and hit [Danny] in the cheek. I [saw] the blast right in front of my face. I could even taste the gunpowder.”

Limon said he tried to keep hold of Weldon’s wrist after the gun went off, but that Weldon shook loose and drove off.

“I felt something running down my face,” he said. “It was a lot of blood. I turned around and I [saw Danny] was lying on the ground. I thought he was dead.”

But Alvarado Jr. said he was fine, and Limon raced to phone for help. Limon was treated for a forehead gash.

Weldon “had time to stand in front of his house and think about what he was going to do ... he had the intention to shoot,” Limon said. “He had a bullet in the chamber, it was off safety, and he was pointing it out the window.”

Minutes after the shooting, Weldon called police, a detective said.

“He was very upset, he was very apologetic,” said Riverside County Sheriff’s Det. Joseph Greco, who questioned him. “At the same time, why bring a gun to confront people?”

Greco said Weldon had told him there had been thefts and other trouble in the neighborhood, but that Weldon conceded he had never called authorities to report any problems.

The detective said Weldon’s statement about the incident was similar to Limon’s, but the two differed on some critical details.

“I don’t know if these guys had an altercation or scuffle over the gun, or if it was an unprovoked shooting,” Greco said.

The handgun, which was registered, is being tested for fingerprints. Greco said deputies wanted to know if prints besides Weldon’s were on the gun.

Weldon is scheduled to be arraigned on attempted murder charges this afternoon in Southwest Justice Center in Temecula. Greco said he hoped to interview Alvarado Jr.

Alvarado Sr. said his son was still in pain but would survive and hoped to return to active duty. He said the bullet entered his son’s left cheek and shattered the right side of his mouth. He said his son was an avionics specialist who handled a .50-caliber machine gun in Iraq.

He said his son was based at Ft. Carson in Colorado and anticipated being promoted to sergeant before returning to Iraq in the next few months.

Now, he is in a hospital bed scratching out notes -- the only way he can communicate.

An early note read, “Are [the] girls okay?”

The girls are fine, but traumatized by what they saw and heard, Alvarado Sr. said.