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Man arrested for attempted murder after shots fired incident
Joshua Prieto
Joshua Prieto

A Great Bend man was arrested on multiple charges, including attempted first degree murder, after a shots fired incident in Great Bend Wednesday night.

According to the Great Bend Police Department, GBPD officers were dispatched at approximately 8:40 p.m. Wednesday to the 1100 block of Frey St. in reference to a report of shots fired. Upon their arrival, officers made contact with several witnesses to the event. The witnesses reported that a known male suspect, identified by eyewitnesses as Joshua Prieto, was driving a semi-gold colored pickup truck southbound on Frey. He then stopped the vehicle in the 1100 block of Frey, exited the vehicle and began shooting with a semi-automatic handgun at two civilians standing in the yard at 1102 Frey, and fired multiple times. 

The suspect then entered the vehicle again and made a U-turn in the 1100 block of Frey and drove northbound on Frey. The suspect then fled the scene westbound on 12th Street. The two subjects who were in the front yard of the residence at the time were not injured.  

Police collected as evidence in excess of 20 shell casings in the area. During the crime scene investigation, it was learned that several of the fired rounds had entered and exited the residence at 1102 Frey and then entered a second building located at 1024 Frey. Great Bend Police Officers later located Prieto and the suspect vehicle at a residence in the 1500 block of 8th Street.  

Prieto was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, criminal discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and criminal damage to property, for which he was booked into the Barton County Jail in lieu of a $1,000,000 bond. Upon a search of the vehicle, marijuana was located inside. Prieto was also charged with possession of marijuana, for which he was booked in lieu of an additional $2,500 bond.

Anyone with information on this case or any other case is encouraged to contact the Great Bend Police Department at 620-793-4120 or Barton County Crime Stoppers at 620-792-1300.