MCALLEN – Documents detailing the events leading up to a fatal shooting at a McAllen motel are offering a glimpse at a potential motive. The reports were filed by the police officers who responded to the crime scene on Monday, December 9.

The shooting happened at 11 a.m. at the Motel 6 in McAllen, but the documents suggest the tension began the night before.

A hotel employee told police the victim, Noel Jesus Valenzuela Jr., was staying in a room next to the eventual and alleged shooter, Vicente Coronado. Notes left by the overnight clerk indicated Valenzuela complained his neighbors were harassing him and was moved to another room.

On Monday around 9:30 or 10:30 a.m., Coronado went to the hotel employee claiming he was the victim of a robbery. Coronado told the employee he couldn’t report it to police for obvious reasons, but that he would be taking care of it himself.

Close to 11 a.m., Valenzuela went back to the lobby asking for a key to his room and advised the employee at the desk that some men were in the parking lot wanting to beat him up. The employee recommended that Valenzuela call the police, but he, too, said he would be taking care of the situation himself.

Valenzuela reportedly did not look worried when he left the lobby, but two minutes later the employee said he heard two gunshots in the parking lot. Valenzuela returned to the lobby and collapsed.

When the first police officer arrived, she reported finding Valenzuela in a pool of blood, but still conscious. She noted his shirt was wet from the bleeding and saw two gunshot wounds. A box cutter was lying next to him. She asked if he knew who shot him, but Valenzuela only said “I can’t breathe” and later requested an ambulance. The officer notified him one was on its way.

A woman came forward saying she witnessed the shooting. According to her statements made to the officer, Valenzuela was arguing with Coronado in the parking lot. She described Coronado wearing a Christmas sweater, black pants, sandals and a pony tail. The description was shared with arriving officers.

Valenzuela was still had a faint pulse but was unconscious when paramedics arrived. By the time he was loaded into the ambulance, paramedics told the officer the victim no longer had a pulse.

Using the description offered by the witness, officers were able to locate the suspect. He was by a stairwell holding onto a green backpack and talking to a woman.

When police approached him, he refused to comply with directions and fled. An officer believes he saw him draw his gun as he was running toward the parking lot. A chase followed through the streets near the hotel. As he ran, police later noticed Coronado dropped the weapon, backpack, an Illinois-issued drivers’ license, and other items along the way.

Multiple officers pursued him until the chases ended up behind a different hotel. An officer pulled out his weapon, not realizing Coronado had dropped his weapon, according to reports. The officer commanded him to get on the floor, but he reportedly refused. The suspect was subdued by two officers.

Police confiscated two cell phones, a $20 bill and a few more items from Coronado. They also recovered the backpack which contained 9.47 ounces of marijuana. The handgun was collected from the parking lot. It was identified as a 9 mm Taurus Millenium G2.

According to police, it had four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. An officer noticed the safety lock was engaged. Casings, unspent and spent, belonging to a 9 mm weapon were also recovered from a corridor, by a swimming pool fence, near a sidewalk, and by some bushes. Surveillance video was also gathered as part of evidence from the location.

The witness who said she saw the shooting positively identified Coronado as the man who pulled the trigger. Two other witnesses also testified about seeing the argument.

According to the reports, Coronado admitted to shooting Valenzuela after getting into an argument with him in the parking lot.

Police visited the room where Coronado was staying in and noted the presence of marijuana and pills. They stated they planned to get a search warrant for the room.