'Shots Fired' Call at Wescott Apartments Results in Arrest, Trial of 63-Year-Old Man

Before March is out, a St. Louis Park man will likely go on trial for allegedly trying to knife and shoot the mother of his three children, then threatening to kill his daughters.

Armando Antonio Martinez-Serrano, 63, is charged with three counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, a felony that carries a minimum of one year and one day in jail and a maximum of seven years in prison. He is also charged with another felony for making terroristic threats.

Around noon on March 10, 2012 the Eagan Police were called to a townhouse on Wescott Square on report of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers encountered a woman standing outside. Three young girls were huddled close by, holding each other and crying. On the main floor of the house, officers could see a shattered glass sliding door. What appeared to be the jacketing of a bullet and bullet fragments were found nearby, according to a criminal complaint. Inside, officers allegedly observed several knives strewn about the kitchen. 

The woman told investigators that she lived in townhouse with the girls, her daughters, who were aged 16, 12, and nine. Martinez-Serrano is their father. The victim said she'd had an order of protection against Martinez-Serrano for several years, but had recently dropped it, as she was planning to move out of state to be with a man she'd been seeing.

Police say Martinez-Serrano was well aware of her intentions to move, and had been repairing her van, which she planned to pack up that very day. Martinez-Serrano arrived at the house that morning to take the woman to her vehicle, which was at his place in St. Louis Park. When he arrived at the townhouse, he asked what her plan was.

After asking the victim multiple times if she planned to leave, police say Martinez-Serrano swung a knife at her. She turned and grabbed his wrist instinctively, then allegedly struggled with Martinez-Serrano. At one point, her 16-year-old daughter jumped into the fray and tried to wrest the knife away from him. Police say the two managed to get it away and pushed him into the living room.

By that time, the middle daughter had also joined in, according to the complaint. The two girls were in front of their mother when Martinez-Serrano allegedly pulled a gun out of his waistband and pointed it at the woman. She and the girls tried to grab his arms and control the gun in his hand, but the silver revolver went off and the nine-year-old screamed.

The woman ran to her youngest, thinking she had been hit, then backed out of the room, keeping her eyes on Martinez-Serrano. The man was grappling with the older girls as she exited the house, and police say he tried to point the gun at her once more. The woman fled to a neighboring townhouse told the residents to call the police, then went back to the scene. But investigators say Martinez-Serrano was already gone.

Police took statements from the girls, who told officers that Martinez-Serrano kept saying, "You aren't leaving" and "I will kill all of you."  

Only one was injured during the brawl. The smallest girl was left with a bloody mark on her upper arm from flying glass.

Martinez-Serrano was apprehended in April 2012, and pleaded not guilty to the charges in July. His trial is scheduled to begin on March 25, 2013.