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PD: Snapchat sent to shooting victim from suspect reads "I feel better now"

Posted at 1:34 PM, Oct 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-27 16:36:06-04

A suspect sends a Snapchat message to his victim after shooting him in the neck, severing his carotid artery.

Police report that the two had been arguing one night over something the suspect, 26-year-old Gabrial Mark Martinez, had said.

According to records, the victim later told his girlfriend, on October 9, he was going to fight Martinez in the parking lot of a warehouse where they both work.

The victim reported to police he saw Martinez leave the parking lot near 7th Avenue and Deer Valley Road around 10 p.m., calling his girlfriend to tell her that Martinez “must be too scared to fight.”

After returning to his home near 23rd Avenue and Deer Valley Road the victim received a call from Martinez, around 11 p.m., and proceeded to walk outside asking, “where are you, I don’t see you.”

Police say that’s when Martinez shot the victim. The girlfriend told police she heard a loud bang before her boyfriend stumbled back inside the home holding his neck that was bleeding profusely and saying, “He shot me.”

Police say she added that just after the shooting, Martinez sent a Snapchat message to the victim saying, "I feel better now." 

Other co-workers tried to warn the victim by sending a message to his girlfriend saying that they believed that Martinez was armed, having stolen a handgun from another worker, records show.

Police say the victim was shot in the neck with the bullet, severing his carotid artery. Surgeons had to replace it with a piece of artery from his leg to save his life.

Police located and arrested Martinez the next afternoon.

Police say Martinez tried to get his employer to alter his timecard to reflect that he was working that night. However, workers told police that he was not there.