Latest news with #ManuelVegaLopez
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Shooting at the D.C. Jewish Museum startled me. So did a shooting in Gilbert
I was struck and saddened by two horrific shooting deaths last week. The first was the tragic killing of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. The second was much closer to home with the senseless death of Mr. Manuel Vega Lopez in Gilbert, Ariz. This hardworking family man and landscaper from Chandler went to a Gilbert house as requested by a homeowner to trim a tree. Opinion: An Arizona family is dead. Could they have been saved by better gun legislation? A 28-year-old occupant of the home shot Mr. Vega dead in the middle of the day, apparently thinking Mr. Vega was a vandal. I have many questions about why the shooter (with his children and wife in the house) didn't call the police to handle the situation or didn't call his landlord before he shot Mr. Vega. Opinion: When will Arizona voters get wise to Arizona's sorry excuse for a Legislature? Then I realized that the root cause of both these deaths was the readily available access to guns that we refuse to stop in America. The tragedies pile up and the damage rips apart the fabric of many families, as we slide slowly into a lawless society. If only we could end our worship of guns. Carol Mathis, Scottsdale This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Israeli Embassy workers and AZ landscaper didn't have to die | Letter
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Bizarre fight sees tenant shoot dead landscaper hired by his landlord to trim his trees
A renter has allegedly shot dead a landscaper hired by his landlord after thinking he was a thief and vandalizer. Wyatt Ford, 28, is accused of gunning down Manuel Vega Lopez, 51, at around 4:30pm on Monday after a fight in Gilbert, Arizona. His landlord reportedly told him and his wife a gardener would be stopping by to chop down a tree, which they had acknowledged. But when he arrived Ford believed he had seen his truck a few days earlier when someone had tried to rob and damage a trailer outside their house. Their neighbors are believed to have linked the two vehicles and Ford raced out to confront the Mexican native. Meanwhile his wife had called cops to report the alleged thief was at their home and her husband had armed himself. While speaking with officer, gunshots rang. She reportedly told the operator her husband had 'just shot him.' A witness told police after Ford allegedly gunned down the laborer, he screamed for someone to call 911 and said 'I didn't mean to do it.' Police rushed to the scene, finding Lopez lifeless on the ground in a pool of blood with a bullet through his throat. He was shot at least four times, AZ Central reported. Ford was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He is being held at a Maricopa County jail. Cops also retrieved a black Glock semi-automatic firearm and four spent cartridges. They found Lopez's truck, loaded with landscaping tools. The investigation is ongoing, police announced in a statement. Lopez's daughter Manuelita Vega Salazar told ABC15: 'As a daughter, he was the best dad ever. He gave me everything I needed.' She added that he was the sole caretaker for her mother, who is battling kidney failure and diabetes. His son has also been grappling with severe health issues, as he has cancer and experiences frequent seizures. Manuelita Vega Salazar (pictured), Lopez's daughter, said her family depended on him Manuelita wrote on GoFundMe: 'He was a caring, attentive, respectful and loving husband, father and friend. 'A life full of love, hope, happiness and anything life could offer. He built our family a home not in elegance but in simplicity and contentment. 'As a father, he worked with all his strength in all the ways he could, to earn the income and gave his family all the support he could.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
$1 million bond set for man accused of fatally shooting landscaper in Gilbert
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled on May 23 that the man accused in the fatal shooting of a landscaper in Gilbert may be released from jail if he posts a $1 million bond and wears an electronic monitoring device. Wyatt Ford, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in the May 19 shooting of Manuel Vega Lopez, 51. Lopez had been hired by Ford's landlord to trim a tree at the Gilbert residence. Although Ford and his wife were aware that a landscaper was scheduled to work in the yard, Ford mistakenly believed Lopez was responsible for previous damage to a trailer the couple had parked at the property, according to police reports. Ford, who turns 29 on May 25, confronted Lopez, and the situation escalated into the fatal shooting, according to police reports. Police said Ford fired a 9mm Glock four times at Lopez, striking him in the throat. Ford was heard saying he didn't mean to shoot Lopez, according to police reports. More about the case: Gilbert man killed landscaper he had accused of vandalism, police say In addition to the bond amount, Commissioner Elizabeth Campbell said Ford would have to abide by curfew hours set by the court's Pretrial Services Agency. Those hours had not been set in the release order Campbell issued May 23. Ford's preliminary hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. May 29 at the court's south tower in downtown Phoenix. In the wake of Lopez's death, his family has launched a GoFundMe campaign, as he was the sole provider for his household. His wife is living with diabetes and deteriorating vision, and their youngest son is facing health challenges following recent chemotherapy treatments. Mourned: Landscaper's family remembers dad killed in Gilbert shooting as provider for ill wife, son This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: $1M bond set for man accused of fatally shooting landscaper in Gilbert
