READING, Pa. – Reading Police have made an arrest in a shooting that injured a man early yesterday morning in the downtown area.
51-year-old Jose Gastambides-Martinez is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and related offenses.
Just after 5 a.m. Wednesday, police responded to the 100 block of Church Street for a reported shooting.
Arriving officers found spent shell casings and blood in a parking lot at the location, but no victim.
A short time later, police were informed that a man who had been shot multiple times arrived at Reading Hospital in a personal vehicle, which investigators say had been struck by several bullets and had a large amount of blood inside.
The victim told police he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his van when he was shot. He saw a man standing in front of the vehicle, later identified as Gastambides-Martinez, firing at him before fleeing the scene.
The suspect was identified by police after his vehicle was captured on a license plate reader while crossing the Bingaman Street Bridge.
Court documents state that Gastambides-Martinez told investigators he and the victim had been having an ongoing dispute over a woman they both allegedly had been involved with, and that he drove to the scene the morning of the shooting and fired at least three times at the victim.
Online court records list Gastambides-Martinez as in custody at Berks County jail on $500,000 bail.
He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for December 19.
Police said a man was shot in Reading early Wednesday morning.
Officers responded to the area of the 100 block of Church Street for the report of a shooting at approximately 5 a.m., according to city police.
City police said officers found a 47-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to Reading Hospital for treatment and is in serious but stable condition, police said.
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The man suspected in the shooting was described as a male; no additional suspect information is available at this time, police said.
According to city police, there is not believed to be a threat to the public.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Reading Police Department at 610-655-6116 or contact Crime Alert Berks at 877-373-9913.