A 28-year-old Army veteran has been indicted on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly firing a pistol during a drunken argument outside a barracks on Fort Hood, Texas.
Police allege that on Feb 6., Ricardo Manuele Davila-DeJesus, a former soldier, was intoxicated and got into an argument with several individuals inside Barracks Building 9421 on the installation.
Witnesses told military police and later an FBI agent that Davila-DeJesus was arguing with soldiers who were attempting to find him a ride home. The altercation continued outside of the building.
“Davila-DeJesus was arguing with (an unidentified soldier) outside the barracks when Davila-DeJesus retrieved the Glock 30 firearm … .” according to court documents.
Davila-DeJesus then allegedly pointed the .45 caliber handgun at the soldier he’d been arguing with, according to court documents. The soldier, who feared for his life, ran back inside the building.
“As he was running, (the soldier) heard three gunshots coming from the direction of Davila-DeJesus,” according to court documents.
Other soldiers nearby subdued Davila-DeJesus and took the firearm from him. Military police later found spent shell casings near where witnesses said they saw Davila-DeJesus.
On Tuesday, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Davila-DeJesus with assault with intent to do bodily harm, a federal offense, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Davila-DeJesus is scheduled for arraignment in federal court in Waco, Texas, on Feb. 16, according to court records.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
