17-Year Old Being Charged As Adult in Shooting Death of Gage Bruce

Burlington, Washington– A 17-year old suspect in the May 25th,  2015 shooting death  of Bruce Gage at Maiben Park in Burlington  is being charged as an adult in Skagit County Superior Court  due to his age and the nature of the crime.

Saul Cruz-Garcia of Burlington is the first person arrested in the shooting death  and he is  being  charged as an adult on one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. He is currently being held on $500,000 bail in  Skagit County Juvenile Detention.

According to a probable cause affidavit of arrest obtained by SkagitBreaking.com through a public records request, on May 25th 2015 at approximately 8:24 pm, Burlington Police Officers were dispatched to the area of Maiben Park at Regent Street and Vernon Avenue for multiple reports of shots fired.

Burlington Police Officers arrived on scene and located six .40 caliber cartridge casings near the intersection of Regent Street and Vernon Avenue.   Additionally, Officers located several bullet holes in the Burlington Community Center wall, Southeast of where the shell casings were located.  Police also found one 9 mm cartridge casing located near a sink in the center of the covered picnic area.

Burlington Police were later notified of a juvenile male at United General Hospital in Sedro Woolley who was being treated for a gunshot wound.  The male, later identified as 17-year old Gage Bruce,  died from his injuries around 9:22 pm.

Another teen, who is only identified by their initials in the police report due to his age was reported to have a bullet hole through his hat.

Burlington Officers later obtained video surveillance that showed six  people dropping off Gage Bruce at United General Hospital after the shooting and Officers confirmed that the six  were also with Gage Bruce at Maiben Park when he had been shot.

Burlington Officers were able to determine through their investigation that the shooting stemmed from a dispute at a party in Burlington the previous evening.

After the shooting, various witnesses from the party  told Officers during their investigation that  a teen at the party told Cruz-Garcia that another teen at the party was a Norteno gang member because he was wearing a lot of  red.  Cruz-Garcia  identifies as a Sureno, a rival gang.

Witnesses told Officers that Cruz-Garcia then  confronted the teen and threatened to shoot him.   A female juvenile at the party, confronted Cruz-Garcia about his behavior and in response, Cruz-Garcia slapped her.  Two teens stepped in on the female teens behalf to help her and they got into an altercation with Cruz-Garcia.

Witnesses say another teen stepped between Cruz-Garcia and those fighting to try and defuse the situation.   Cruz-Garcia then threatened to “bring back guns and shoot everyone in the building.”

Witnesses said Cruz-Garcia and his friend then left the party.   One of the teens involved claimed to a witness to have then left the party and return 30 minutes later claiming that he had just beat up Cruz-Garcia.

Burlington Officers interviewed the six people who were with Bruce Gage prior to the shooting and each gave a varying  story to Officers and identified possible different people as the shooter.

One of the teens who was with Gage Bruce told Officers that he, Gage Bruce and another kid went to Maiben park and they were shot at. He described the shooter as a darker skinned Hispanic male with spiky hair who pulled out a gun and shot Gage Bruce.

A second teen, only identified by their initials, told Officers that shortly before the shooting he had heard Cruz-Garcia and a friend of his known as “magic” were playing basketball in the park.  The teen, along with Gage Bruce and the others went to the park.   The teen says one of the people on the basketball court pulled out a gun from a backpack and shot Gage Bruce. He told Officers he was also shot at and a bullet struck his hat, nearly striking him in the head.

A third Teen, confirmed with deputies his dispute with Cruz-Garcia at the party the night before and said Cruz-Garcia made threats to shoot him and his friends. The following day, the teen was in the vehicle that dropped off Gage Bruce, and the other teens.   This witness changed his story with Officers at least three times during the course of the investigation.

A fourth Teen in the vehicle, identified only by her initials, told police she witnessed one of the people on the basketball court  shoot Gage Bruce at the park.

Officers interviewed Cruz-Garcia on several occasions.  He admitted to Officers about the dispute at the party because one of the other teens was “wearing a lot of red.” He admitted to getting into an altercation with a female and said the female smacked him across the face and he did the same thing to her.  Cruz-Garcia claimed this resulted in the group at the party  making threats to beat him up.  Cruz-Garcia told Officers that one of the teens called Gage Bruce to come and assist them in jumping him.

Cruz-Garcia also told Officers that the group was afraid that he was going to shoot them but said he never made any threats to shoot anyone.  He then told Officers the guy with him, said he was “going to get a gun” but that he did not personally  make any threats.

Cruz-Garcia told Officers he had been threatened the night before the shooting by one of the teens at the party.  He then went and told one of his neighbors, who goes by a street name of “Magic”  that “some guys are going to get him” to which the neighbor responded “I got you.”

Burlington Officers were able to obtain online Facebook Communications between several of  the teens from Prior to the shooting until after the shooting. It shows communications between several of the involved parties as they are out looking for each other, including messages at 4:10 pm on the day of the shooting from Cruz-Garcia to one of the teens that says “be careful what he says about me and homies cuzz we will get him and probably won’t see him again my homies had enough of him they want him dead.”  The message is referencing another teen, not Gage Bruce.

There are nearly 75 messages back in forth between the group of teens with one teen pleading Cruz-Garcia and his homies  not to hurt or kill his friends or their families. At one point, four hours before the shooting  it appears the situation has been resolved and Cruz-Garcia invites the other teens to Maiben Park if they want to “make peace.” It is unclear if that message is a possible set up to lure the teens to the park.

The last message prior to the shooting is at 7:58 pm where one of the teens says “I’m fine and I’m going to take care of this.”

Twenty minutes later the shooting occurred at Maiben Park and Gage Bruce was shot and killed.

During follow up interviews, Cruz-Garcia continued to state to Officers that he didn’t have any involvement in the shooting and that he hadn’t left his apartment the night of the shooting except for a brief moment to visit a nearby friend.

When asked by Officers about the online messages, Cruz-Garcia told them he admitted to sending the messages in order to scare the other teens, and admitted to being scared and said the messages had nothing to do with the death of Gage Bruce. He indicated the messages he sent were only a coincidence in how they corresponded with the shooting and those involved.

Cruz-Garcia is being held on a $500,000 bail, awaiting his next court appearance  in the case.