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Police identify woman shot in leg near Cortez elementary school

Police investigate a shooting Sept. 15 at a home next to Kemper Elementary School in Cortez. (Jim Mimiaga/The Journal file)
Victim was found in back of car on way to hospital, police say

The victim of a shooting earlier this month in Cortez has been identified as Tanya Ahasteen.

Ahasteen was found Sept. 15 in the back seat of a vehicle with a bullet wound to her leg, according to a Cortez police report.

Students of Kemper Elementary were evacuated Sept. 15 after a shooting at a home text door to the school. (Jim Mimiaga/The Journal file)

The vehicle had been pulled over by police because it reportedly left the scene of a shooting at the corner of Montezuma Avenue and Adams Street. Police stopped the vehicle at the corner of Mildred Road and Empire Street.

Officers found Ahasteen suffering from a bullet wound to her left leg midway between her hip and knee cap, according to officer Tyson Cox.

Cox applied a tourniquet above the wound and held a pressure bandage until medics arrived.

While receiving first aid, Ahasteen stated that he shot her but did not go into further details, according to the report. She was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital by EMTs.

The female driver was detained for questioning, then released, said Assistant Cortez Police Chief Andy Brock. They were on their way to the hospital, he said.

The shooter is suspected to be Gerardo Arturo Federico, according to the Cortez Police Department. He had not been arrested as of Thursday, Brock said.

Cortez police were called to 546 E. Montezuma Ave. for a fight, which then escalated to a shooting, in which an adult female was shot in the leg.

The shooting forced Kemper students to evacuate the building. Police, thinking Federico was inside the house, spent hours trying to persuade Federico to come outside.



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