A man accused of shooting at another man outside a Roswell convenience store will remain in custody while he awaits trial.
Judge Jared Kallunki of the Fifth Judicial District Court granted a motion Thursday, Oct. 22, to hold Joe Jacob Gonzales, 41, of Roswell, “without bail pending trial or subsequent order of this court,” according to an order signed by Kallunki.
Gonzales is charged with one count each of shooting at or from a motor vehicle; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; and receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon, according to the criminal complaint filed in Chaves County Magistrate Court.
The case was bound over to Fifth Judicial District Court Oct. 22, meaning the judge found there was enough evidence to proceed on the felony charge.
Gonzales’ attorney Mark Swanson did not respond to request for comment.
The charges against Gonzales stem from an Oct. 1 incident at the Murphy USA convenience store at 1001 W. Second St. Police said Gonzales pulled into the parking lot of Murphy USA in a silver Ford Explorer and shot at a man.
No one was injured, but the man’s white pickup truck was struck by gunfire several times.
When questioned by police, the man said he had been at Variety Lounge and Liquors, 1100 W. Second St., before the shooting and had gotten into an altercation there. The man then left the lounge and headed to Murphy USA, according to the complaint.
Officers later viewed surveillance video from a camera at the intersection of West Second Street and South Union Avenue. The video showed the white pickup drive up to a gas pump at Murphy USA before a Ford Explorer pulled in at an angle in front of the pickup’s passenger side. As the pickup started driving away, a man in a maroon shirt and dark jeans got out of the Explorer and shot at the pickup several times, according to the complaint.
Officers also obtained video from the lounge, according to the complaint. The video showed a man identified in the complaint as Gonzales enter the lounge and get into an argument with another man.
While investigating the crime scene at Murphy USA, police learned of a separate emergency call from a woman who said her mother’s Ford Explorer had been stolen from the parking lot of Variety Lounge and Liquors. When officers went to her mother’s house, they saw the Explorer in the driveway. The caller’s mother told officers that her boyfriend, Gonzales, had used the Explorer and that she later picked it up from his mother’s house, according to the complaint.
Officers obtained and executed a search warrant on the Explorer and found several documents with Gonzales’ name on them in the glove box. A 9-millimeter round found inside the Explorer matched one found at the crime scene, according to the complaint.
Lance Jaggers, an assistant district attorney, wrote in his motion for pretrial detention that if released, Gonzales would pose a danger to the public. He cited Gonzales’ criminal record. That record includes a 2009 guilty plea to one count each of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Gonzales is also awaiting trial on a charge of receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon in a case filed in August 2025.
