Suspected shooter pleads not guilty to Fallbrook murder

VISTA (CNS) - A 76-year-old man accused of shooting three people in Fallbrook last week, one of whom died, pleaded not guilty today to murder and attempted murder counts.

Enrique Barajas is accused in Friday afternoon's shooting of three people at Atkins Nursery. Police allege Barajas and the victims all worked at the nursery, and one of the wounded victims was Barajas' 47-year-old daughter.

Barajas, who remains jailed without bail, faces up to 114 years to life in state prison if convicted of all counts, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Sheriff's deputies responded just before 3 p.m. Friday and found the body of Francisco Hernandez Mireles, 69, in a barn on the property, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

Barajas, who police allege used a .22-caliber rifle to shoot the victims, was arrested in the barn. Along with Barajas' daughter, a 55-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting, according to sheriff's Lt. Chris Steffen.

Deputies found the two wounded victims just outside the barn where Mireles' body was discovered. They were hospitalized and underwent surgery, but are expected to survive, Steffen said.

``The motivation and circumstances (behind the shooting) are still under investigation,'' Steffen said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.

CNS-02-15-2023 15:59