Old Sac shooting suspect booked; couple also face charges

The alleged gunman in the fatal bar shooting on New Year's Eve was released from a hospital late Saturday and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Carlito Montoya, 22, is accused of killing a fellow bar patron and a bar employee in a shootout that happened while thousands of families were in Old Sacramento for fireworks shows. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Two other suspects will be arraigned this week on charges related to their alleged roles in the deadly violence.

Late Friday, Sacramento police announced two arrests in the case: Amber Scholz, 36, and her husband, Charles Fowler-Scholz, 34.

They are believed to be friends or acquaintances of Montoya. He remained in police custody while being treated for gunshot wounds he sustained at the hands of a security guard who intervened after Montoya allegedly shot three people, killing two of them.

Montoya and the guard, 46-year-old Stephen Walton, both suffered injuries when they exchanged gunfire. Walton is expected to survive.

Last week, police said the argument at the Sports Corner Cafe began over a spilled drink. On Saturday, spokesman Officer Doug Morse said he could not elaborate, but did describe Scholz as the "instigator" in the argument with Gabriel and Christina Cordova, who were getting a drink after watching the 9 p.m. fireworks show in Old Sacramento.

The argument escalated and became physical, according to police. Morse said Scholz did not get involved in the fight, but her husband, Fowler-Scholz, did. Montoya, at the bar with them, then pulled out a gun and shot the Cordovas, as well as Daniel Ferrier, a bar employee who tried to intervene.

Gabriel Cordova, 35 and a father of three, and Ferrier, 36 and a veteran of the U.S. Army and the National Guard, died at the scene. Christina Cordova was shot in a foot.

Police arrested Scholz and Fowler-Scholz on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. They are being held in lieu of $1 million bail each at the Sacramento County Main Jail, where they were declining media interviews Saturday.

According to jail records, Fowler-Scholz is classified as a Norteño gang member.

Sacramento Superior Court records available online indicate Fowler-Scholz has an extensive criminal history, dating back to 1995. In a case that year, a jury found him guilty of 11 counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery. He was sentenced in 1996 to six years of prison, according to the records.

Three years later he was out of prison, and prosecutors charged him with second-degree robbery. He pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of being an accessory, records show.

The online records show no criminal history in Sacramento County for Scholz.

Last week, Montoya's mother, Sandra Montez, told The Bee she had encouraged her son to leave his hometown of Oakland to escape the influence of gangs. She said Montoya, who has no documented criminal history in California, moved to Sacramento three months ago and enrolled in truck driving school.

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