HURRICANE — A man who was shot during an argument in Hurricane last week was arrested Friday after police say he was the aggressor in the dispute.
Hurricane City Police arrested 43-year-old Raul Rivera after he was discharged from the hospital where was being treated for the gunshot wound.
Police responded to the reported shooting Saturday afternoon in the area of 3700 West and 165 North. Shortly before the incident, police at the scene said Rivera and two other male relatives were involved in a custody dispute.
According to the affidavit of probable cause supporting a warrant for his arrest, Rivera began making verbal threats toward the two other men. “Raul was found standing by his vehicle and threatened that he had a 9mm handgun in the vehicle and that he would shoot both (men),” the affidavit reads.
Rivera then allegedly reached in the vehicle and pulled out “an object that was black in color” and lunged toward the men with it in his hand.
Police state that one of the men, fearing for his life, pulled a revolver from his pocket and fired one round at Rivera in the lower abdomen.
Medical responders arrived and rushed Rivera to the hospital. According to the affidavit, investigators found a “black handled screwdriver” lying on the ground where Rivera was gunned down next to his vehicle.
A search warrant executed on Rivera’s vehicle allegedly yielded marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Rivera has been charged with two third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault, a class B misdemeanor count of threat of violence and separate class B misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In the warrant for his arrest, police state that Rivera has previous convictions of domestic violence assault and manslaughter.
This report is based on statements from police and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
St. George News reporter Cody Blowers contributed to this report.
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