The suspect killed in a Tuesday evening shootout with Pueblo law enforcement shot roughly 80 times at police with a rifle and injured three officers, according to the police department.
Pueblo officers originally responded to the south side of the city, near Mesa Avenue and Cedar Street, in search of 34-year-old Billy Soto, Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller said in a Wednesday news conference.
Noeller said Soto, who he called a “self-admitted MS-13 gang member,” was wanted on investigation of attempted murder in a February shooting at a Pueblo apartment complex.
“Our officers were ambushed and shot by a malicious person who should have been in jail, but wasn’t because of our soft-on-crime legislation and bonds,” Noeller said. “… I for one am sick of it. I am sick of my officers taking these risks and being held to this kind of crime with no recourse and our community should be sick of it. The blood of my officers lays at the steps of the Capitol.”
A warrant was issued for Soto’s arrest in the apartment shooting in late February, but Soto had not yet been arrested, charged or bonded out, according to court records.
Soto posted a $25,000 and a $30,000 bond in December 2024 in two ongoing Pueblo court cases where he was charged with felony motor vehicle theft, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, possessing a weapon as a previous offender, carrying a concealed weapon, violating multiple protection orders and resisting arrest, according to court records.
Both of those bails were readjusted to $2,500 cash-only bonds in January, but the date he posted the new bonds was not listed in district court records.
Soto was also out on bond in an ongoing felony motor vehicle theft case in El Paso County. He failed to appear for a disposition hearing in that case in January.
After police said Soto opened fire on officers, additional Pueblo police officers and sheriff’s deputies responded to the shooting as backup, according to a news release from the department.
The area where the shooting happened is north of Bessemer Park and about 2 miles east of the Colorado State Fairgrounds.
When those Pueblo officers and deputies arrived, “additional shots were fired” between the suspect and law enforcement, according to the release.
Police said Soto then fled the area on foot and continued shooting at officers and deputies.
Multiple officers returned fire and shot Soto, according to the news release. Noeller did not say how many officers were involved, how many rounds officers fired at Soto or how many times the injured officers were shot.
Four deputies were involved and are on paid administrative leave while the shooting is under investigation, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers provided emergency medical attention, but Soto died from his injuries at the scene of the shooting.
Noeller said the three police officers injured in the shooting are in stable condition but “have a long road to recovery.”
“Our men and women in uniform work every day on the front lines, and put themselves in harm’s way to protect our lives and communities,” Governor Jared Polis said in a statement. “Pueblo is a strong community, especially in tough times like this.”
The 10th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, led by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, will investigate the shooting. Polis said the Colorado State Patrol is also supporting the investigation.
Soto has a long criminal history in Pueblo County, according to court records.
Between 2012 and 2015, he was charged with 15 felonies but pleaded many of those cases down to misdemeanor charges, according to court records.
Soto was convicted during that time of witness tampering and victim intimidation, false reporting, violating a protection order and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, court records show.
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