Man charged in January shooting outside Pueblo pool house

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO)-- A Pueblo man has been charged with attempted murder in connection with a January shooting outside of Classic Q's Pool House.

Police say, Rene Gonzales, 47, stepped outside of a car by the pool house on January 15 and was shot at least four times. According to an arrest affidavit, Gonzales was with her son, who police allege is a member of a rival gang.

The Pueblo Police Department arrested Dante Williams Thursday for firing the shots. He's been charged with attempted murder.

On February 14, police put out a surveillance video and a screen capture of a man wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates hat and jersey. Police wrote they believed the man was the shooting suspect.

Police say they identified the car that the shooters were in as a silver Ford Fusion, which belonged to Daniel Howard. Police wrote Gonzales got into the passenger seat of the car after the shooting.

According to the arrest affidavit, Williams denied he was at the pool house, but granted investigators access to his phone. On that phone, police wrote they found photos of Williams wearing the exact outfit seen in the surveillance footage from the business.

Cell phone records show at least 14 calls were made between Howard and Williams on the morning of the shooting, and cell phone tower records showed Williams was in the area of the bar at the time of the shooting.

Howard was shot and killed three weeks later, reportedly in the parking lot of the Pueblo Village Apartments. Williams drove Howard to the hospital before he died in the emergency room. He told police Howard was shot by someone wearing a mask in a truck.

Before he was killed, Howard told police he didn't know anything about the January 15 incident, but members of his family reported that they heard him saying that it was Williams who had shot Gonzales.

Williams was interviewed in the January 15 shooting, and allegedly told police he had met Howard that day to give him $1,500 for a legal issue. 

The same day Howard was allegedly murdered, Pueblo Police had posted Howard to their "weekly safe streets wanted criminal round-up," stating they had a warrant for Howard's arrest. He had a no-bond warrant for first-degree murder - extreme indifference along with prohibited use of a firearm and reckless endangerment.

Before his arrest, detectives were tipped off that Williams may be moving to Arizona. When police drove past his home they say they found five U-Haul containers in the driveway. Detectives wrote they were concerned Williams may be moving to avoid prosecution for the investigation into the shooting of Gonzales.

When asked if Williams was a person of interest in Howard's death, a Pueblo Police department spokesperson said they are still investigating.