Two men were arrested late Friday morning at Montezuma Park after shots were fired near Good Sam’s Food Pantry during a monthly pet food distribution.
A Journal reporter saw three Cortez police vehicles arrive at Montezuma Park just before 11:30 a.m. and make two arrests.
Officers handcuffed a man wearing a black sweatshirt, then pointed their firearms at a man in a white shirt and instructed him to lie face down in the grass before handcuffing him too.
Shortly after, Officer Kiernan Korthank, sworn in as a police officer in June, spoke to witnesses lined up at Good Sam’s Food Pantry.
As the incident unfolded, about 20 people waited outside the pantry. A few described the events leading up to the arrests to The Journal but asked to remain anonymous out of concern about attracting attention from law enforcement.
According to a handful of witnesses, one shot was heard just east of the food pantry.
Witnesses said they saw a man in a black hoodie holding a gun and chasing a man in a white shirt, followed by a second gunshot.
“First we heard a shot over here,” one witness said while pointing to the parking lot behind the food pantry. “Then we seen the two guys running. I seen the guy behind him have the gun. And then he shot after the guy who was running in front of him.”
The shots were fired on East North Street between North Beech and North Ash streets, witnesses said. The man in the white shirt ran into an alleyway as the man holding the gun pursued him. The two then made their way to Montezuma Park, where they were quickly arrested.
Volunteers at Good Sam’s Food Pantry, busy unloading pet food from vehicles indoors, said they were unaware of what had happened.
No one appeared to have been injured in the shooting.
Korthank told The Journal that he could not comment on what had occurred, only that more information would be available once a police report was filed.
