Man arrested after shot is fired during fistfight

A 27-year-old Atwater man was jailed early Thursday after allegedly firing a shot in the air during an altercation in a liquor store parking lot, the Atwater Police Department reported.

Gabriel E. Mascorro, 27, was booked into the Merced County Jail on suspicion of illegally discharging a firearm, which is a felony. He was released a short time later, according to booking records.

Circumstances surrounding the incident remained unclear, but Mascorro claimed he was defending himself when he fired the gun.

Atwater police responded just after midnight to Bobbi’s Liquor, 2699 First St., after receiving a report of gunshots, Lt. Samuel Joseph told the Sun-Star.

“The officers learned that no one had been shot, but a gun had apparently been fired and there was some type of altercation,” Joseph said.

Investigators found Francisco Castellanos-Quintero, 27, on the ground, bleeding from some type of injury suffered around his eye, police said.

Officers said witnesses were uncooperative with investigators but described some type of altercation, possibly involving Castellanos-Quintero, Mascorro and a third unidentified man, whom police described as a black male adult.

Mascorro told police he was defending himself from an attack when he fired the shot into the air from a semi-automatic 9mm Ruger, claiming it was some type of warning. Officers found the gun on top of the tire of a parked car in the lot, police said.

Officers are asking for the public’s help.

This story was originally published October 23, 2014 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Man arrested after shot is fired during fistfight."