El Paso police arrest driver wounded in Stanton Street Bridge shooting on assault charges

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
·2 min read

A Canutillo man allegedly assaulted his mother, pushed her out of a vehicle and drove toward a security guard when he was shot Friday at the foot of the Stanton Street international bridge, El Paso police said.

Maxwell Billingslea, 32, was booked into the El Paso County Jail Downtown on Sunday after he was treated and released from a hospital after being wounded during the border confrontation, police officials said Monday.

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Billingslea was booked on charges of assault-family violence, aggravated assault against a security officer, escape while arrested and a traffic warrant for not having a driver's license, according to a jail log.

The incident occurred about 3:30 p.m. Friday as cars were lined up to head south into Mexico at the Stanton Street Bridge at 1001 S. Stanton St.

Billingslea and his 64-year-old mother were in a Toyota Rav4 waiting in line when Maxwell allegedly assaulted his mom and pushed her out of the SUV, police said.

Police said that the woman asked for help from security guard Luis Velarde-Garcia, 38, who was working at the bridge. As the uninformed guard approached the Toyota, Billingslea began driving back and forth, hitting other cars before allegedly driving toward Velarde-Garcia, who in defense fired his gun at the vehicle.

A cellphone video shared on social media shows a man in the traffic lanes appearing to aim a gun as at least five gunshots ring out even as some Juárez-bound pedestrians hardly take a glance.

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Billingslea was shot and wounded and treated at University Medical Center of El Paso before he was booked into jail. He remains jailed under a total bond of $100,000, according to a jail log.

The shooting was investigated by police detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Driver wounded in El Paso border bridge shooting arrested