Double murder suspect cheered when he heard approaching sirens, witness says

A double-murder suspect cheered when he heard sirens from police and ambulance vehicles racing to the scene of the crime, a witness told Colorado Springs police.

Prosecutors were scheduled to file first-degree murder charges against Fort Carson Pfc. Jomar Falu-Vives, 24, at a court hearing Monday. But Chief Deputy District Attorney Diana May told the judge they need more time to review police reports on the June 6 shooting deaths of Cesar Ramirez Ibanez, 21, and Amairany Cervantes, 18, on Monterey Road and Carmel Drive. The victims were posting a garage sale sign near the intersection when they were shot dead.

Fort Carson Spc. Rodolfo Torres-Gandarilla, 20, is also suspected in the double homicide, but investigators believe Falu-Vives was the shooter, according to an arrest affidavit.

Alonso Hernandez, 20, told investigators he was riding in Falu-Vives' Chevy Tahoe the night of June 6 when they came to the intersection of Monterey and Carmel. Torres-Gandarilla and Leobigildo Robledo, 26, were in the back seat as Falu-Vives drove, the affidavit states.

Falu-Vives told the passengers "hand me the gun" when the Tahoe stopped at the intersection. Hernandez told investigators Falu-Vives "immediately starting firing the weapon" out the front passenger's window, according to the affidavit.

"Hernandez stated the barrel of the rifle was directly in front of his face, and when Falu-Vives started firing the rife, he covered his face to protect himself from the muzzle flash," according to the affidavit. Hot shell casings landed on Hernandez and when he looked toward the victims, he saw they were down, the affidavit states.

The men drove to Falu-Vives' apartment on Ralphs Ridge, less than a mile from the shooting scene. As they stood on his deck, they heard sirens and saw emergency lights.

"Vives held his hand over his head, saying ‘I love that sound,'" Hernandez told investigators.

Falu-Vives and Torres-Gandarilla have also been charged with attempted murder in connection with a May 26 incident in which another Fort Carson soldier, Capt. Zachary Szody, was shot twice while standing on the corner of Flintshire Street and Monterey Road. He survived the shooting, which an earlier police report incorrectly said occurred May 5.

Investigators found what they say is the murder weapon, an AK-47, in Falu-Vives' apartment. Ballistics tests showed the rifle was used in the May 26 attempted murder and the June 6 double homicide, the affidavit states.

Falu-Vives and Torres-Gandarilla served in Baghdad together with the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment during the 2007 offensive to reclaim the city from insurgents.

Both men were decorated with the Army Commendation medal and returned to Fort Carson with their unit Dec. 20.

They are due back in court Monday, when prosecutors could file murder charges, and are being held without bond at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.