Man accused of killing dozens of animals in Monterey County shooting rampage

A Monterey County man was arrested following a shooting spree that killed dozens of animals over an approximately three-hour period early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded at about 3:25 a.m. to multiple calls of shots being fired in Prundale, about 50 miles south of San Jose. Deputies arrived at the 16000 block of Avery Lane and could hear shots being fired in the area, the Sheriff's Office said.

A shelter-in-place order was put in effect for a five-mile radius of the area while deputies searched for the shooter who continued to fire various calibers of weapons in an area that was extremely dark and covered in thick vegetation, the Sheriff's Office said.

The Sheriff's S.W.A.T. team, police officers from the nearby town of Gonzales and a drone from the Seaside Fire Department were also participated in the hours-long search.

As the sun began to rise, a suspect and what appeared to be a crashed vehicle were observed in a vineyard in the area. Members of the S.W.A.T. team approached the suspect, later identified as 39-year-old Vicente Joseph Arroyo of Salinas, and took him into custody without further incident, the Sheriff's Office said.

After securing the scene, deputies discovered that Arroyo had killed 81 animals, including miniature horses, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks and other types of birds, the Sheriff's Office said. Some animals survived being shot but were taken by the SPCA to be euthanized because of the severity of their injuries.

A total of 15 weapons, including long rifles, shotguns, handguns, and an unserialized "ghost gun" assault weapon were found at the scene and at Arroyo's Salinas home, along with about 2,000 rounds of ammunition.

"It is without a doubt that the warrant served by our deputies and detectives, which has resulted in the seizure of these additional weapons, has made our community safer," said Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto in a prepared statement. "I am confident that we have prevented another tragedy from happening in the future."

Arroyo was booked into the Monterey County Jail on charges of willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence; cruelty to animals, illegal possession of an assault weapon, vandalism, criminal threats, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

His bail was originally set at $50,000, but detectives were able to obtain a bail enhancement and it was reset at $1 million, the Sheriff's Office said.