Two Charged in Last Month’s Skate Park Shooting

El Paso County Prosecutors have filed charges of attempted first degree murder against two men they say shot someone at the Memorial Park Skate Park last month.

Police say 23-year-old Joaquin Soto and 22-year-old Michael Swanson got into an argument over a girl while at the skate park on Tuesday, November 26, when Soto called 20-year-old Jeritt Tardif, who came to the park and shot Swanson in the stomach.

Justin Richards is a local skateboarder who hangs out at the skate park a lot; he says he heard the shooting may have been gang related. “I think the gang mentality is taking over our streets, it’s taking over our youth and that’s one reason I think skateboarding is such a powerful force for the kids of the future; instead of taking them into the violent World of gangs we’re taking them out to explore themselves and their limits and their cities,” says Richards.

The attempted first degree murder charge is a class two felony. The victim, Michael Swanson, went to the hospital with life threatening injuries but should survive the shooting.