Woman shot in the head said she was scared to death, then angry that suspect was released on low bail – The Big Bend Sentinel

Editor’s note: The Big Bend Sentinel has reached out to the Presidio County Sheriff's Office but has not yet received a confirmatory response or a mugshot.

MARFA — Irlanda Vargas said she tried desperately to tell a gunman who fired at her car who she was and why she was in the Marfa Open parking lot early Wednesday morning. An initial shot from the Marfa Open porch sent her into a panic — scared and confused about who was shooting her and why.

Then the unexpected happened: The shooter's dog, which had fled from the porch with the first shot, crossed the parking lot and jumped into Vargas' car. “I thought if I [the shooter] would follow me to get his dog,” she said. Vargas said she grabbed the dog's collar and yanked him out of her car when a second shot hit the passenger side of her car. Vargas, a longtime Alpine resident, said she got out of the driver's side of her car and tried to communicate with the shooter, but after getting the dog out, she jumped back in, backed her car and then sped out of the parking lot when a third shot rang out.

Vargas said she did not know why Matthew “Matty” Gray targeted her in her car, as police alleged, but she was angry that a local judge released him on a small bail and was also upset with police for not informing the community about the incident until Saturday after it was first reported The Big Bend Sentinel.

Vargas, who could not immediately be reached Friday, reported on the shooting and said: The Guardian Saturday, gave her account of the ordeal and said she wanted to speak publicly about her concerns about the way authorities handled the incident. The Guardian of Marfa Open confirms the general details of the incident, which were also outlined by Marfa Police in a Friday email and Saturday's press release on the police department's Facebook page.

According to police reports and surveillance video, around midnight Wednesday, a man with a handgun showed up at the Marfa Open at 102 S. Plateau Street, urinated from the porch, sat down and then aimed at a car that had just pulled into the parking lot. The man then fired one shot at the vehicle, waited, then fired another shot and fired again as the car left the parking lot.

Marfa police said in their statement that they were notified of the incident when they stopped a woman to control traffic shortly after midnight. The woman reported that someone shot her in the Marfa Open parking lot while she was sitting in her car. The officer also noticed a bullet hole in the car. Reports of gunfire were also taken. Vargas added details to the police report, saying that as she sped out of Marfa Open, she turned left onto W. San Antonio and became distressed and drove erratically on the way to the police station – which is why she was stopped.

After police began investigating the area around Marfa Open, they stopped a pickup truck driven by Matthew “Matty” Gray, 37. Officers found a handgun in the car and later viewed video of the shooting to identify Gray. Police arrested Gray — who last lived in Valentine — and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, deadly conduct, discharging a firearm in certain municipalities, driving under the influence and carrying a firearm without a license, according to the police statement. The Presidio County Jail initially said he was released on $25,000 bail Wednesday, but the judge who sentenced Gray — Presidio County Judge Joe Portillo — texted the Sentinel that bail was $20,000. (This is not the same Matthew Gray as the artist who works on sculptures west of Valentine.)

The surveillance video was released to The Big Bend Sentinel by Jason McHenry, director of Marfa Open. McHenry said he wanted to show that there was no event or party going on at the Marfa Open at the time. The video shows a man who appears to be Gray sitting on an empty and quiet porch with no other noises in the background. McHenry said Marfa Open has no formal connection to Gray, but he has done his laundry there a few times. McHenry said he and two others at the Marfa Open had just fallen asleep when they were awakened by loud banging noises. “It was over before we knew what had happened,” he wrote in a statement to police. “We immediately called police, who acted quickly and arrested him within minutes. Fortunately, we had video cameras that documented the entire incident from two different angles.”

Marfa Open is a venue that hosts artists and art shows and also operates an art supply store. Vargas said she knew Gray but was not close to him and had no idea why he shot her.

“Matty” Gray lived in a trailer behind the Valentine Bar, said owner Jeff Wilson, who The Guardian on the porch of the Marfa Open on Friday afternoon. He said he believed Gray, whom he knew well, left Valentine after the incident. Wilson and McHenry said they had no idea what motivated Gray to shoot Vargas. They speculated that the bars in Marfa had just closed, Gray may have been heavily intoxicated and he may have thought someone was after him. “He was over here,” Wilson said, pointing to a back part of the parking lot, “parked at an angle and in a defensive position.”

Video shows suspect Gray driving into the parking lot and then walking to a corner not captured by security cameras. Then, video from the porch shows him arriving with his dog, holding a gun. The man is wearing a black T-shirt with “Austin Moto” on the back and a straw cowboy hat. After he relieves himself and sits down, the camera captures a white sedan driving into the parking lot and stopping parallel to the porch. McHenry said he later found out Vargas had texted her boyfriend to let him know she had arrived. The man points the gun directly at the car — which was parked quite a distance away across the parking lot — and says, “Who's that?” He then says, “Call your name, you're on private property. You are on private property, call your name.” He fires one shot at the limo and says again, “Call your name, you are on private property.” He then says, “Keep moving.” Whoever you are, keep moving,” before firing a second shot that clearly hits the passenger side of the limo. The limo backs up, turns toward the exit, and continues driving, but the man fires a third and final shot at it.

McHenry said Gray's dog was found and returned to Valentine after it escaped, but it's unclear if it returned to Gray. Gray has been a regular at the Valentine bar and bartender there for several months, according to regulars at the bar and Facebook posts by Gray.

Vargas said the bail set for Gray was far too low considering she could have been killed and that Gray could pose a danger to other people in the area. The Guardian asked Judge Portillo for comment, but he responded only by text message Sunday about the $20,000 bail amount. He did not respond to whether there were any “conditions of release” that nearly all arrestees receive after completing their bail term, a checklist that lists certain things that can void bail and lead to re-incarceration — usually conditions like staying away from bars, not associating with victims or certain criminals, and often being required to stay in a certain area (usually the county where they are located).

The Guardian Local attorney Liz Rogers, who assisted Gray's judge in the bail hearing, said that stricter conditions are usually set at the federal court level and that it's not unusual for restrictions to be much looser for individuals in state crime cases – often by having the bail agency monitor its clients' whereabouts and transport them to court hearings. Rogers said she will not represent Gray in the case and that it is still unclear who his attorney will be.

Several people contacted for this story asked why Marfa police did not inform the community about the incident and only responded after being contacted by The Guardian. While the statement posted on Facebook on Saturday was dated August 7, the day of the incident, the department had withheld the information until August 10.

The Guardian reached out to Gray for comment but did not receive a response.

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