than, but he was upset that he had lost the election. police arrested him monday, in connection with a string of what they called, politically motivated shootings at homes of four democratic leaders in new mexico. no one was injured. it is believed that he s the mastermind that was behind this. police say, he suspected of hiring a contractor for cash to commit at least two of the four shootings, from december 4th to january 3rd. peã a was a republican candidate for state house seat in new mexico and he spent years in prison for burglary and larceny. but a judge allowed the convicted felon to be on the ballot in 2022, calling it, unconstitutional for pena to be denied the ability to serve. he lost in november by a i had nothing more than a desire to improve landslide, then accused his opponent of rigging the
officials say pena was an election denier, angry over his loss for a state house seat, hiring four hitmen to shoot at the homes of four state and county leaders, even pulling the trigger himself in one case. bullets flying into state senator linda lopez s home, right over her 10-year-old daughter s head while she was sleeping. it s very scary, as a mom, it s just it s something that you never want to experience. reporter: officials say pena wanted the hitmen to aim lower and shoot around 8:00 p.m. because the targets would more likely not be laying down, adding pena wanted to cause serious injury or death. fortunately, no one was hurt. pena even showing up at the homes of his alleged targets, claiming the election was rigged. hi, my name s solomon pena. reporter: on social media, pena expressed support for donald trump, who claimed his 2020 election was rigged. pena tweeting this picture of himself late last year, attending a january 6th event in washington. well, dav
have announced that they have made an arrest in the shootings. i said this is shocking news, the reason it is shocking news is because the man they have arrested and charged is a republican candidate for a state house seat in last year s elections. he was the republican nominee for state legislative election, this past november. albuquerque s house district 14, his name is solomon pena. he lost that election by more than 3600 votes to the incumbent democrat who hold that seat. mr. pinion was an unusual candidate. there was a local right up on his candidacy in the set of a new mexican. it noted that solomon pinion, despite being the republican nominee for the state legislative seat, he was a convicted felon many times over. he had been convicted, in fact,
pena fired at one of them himself. tonight, pena is under arrest. police and s.w.a.t. teams moving in 24 hours ago in albuquerque. officials saying the failed republican politician was an election denier, who police say hired those four hitmen, paying them with cash and providing them with weapons. these shootings were orchestrated. they were dangerous attacks not only to these individuals, but fundamentally also to democracy. reporter: the targets, two state legislators and two county commissioners. officials say the plot was fueled by pena s anger over his loss for that state house seat. he d reportedly been in state prison for seven years for burglary. a judge allowing him to run for office. he had complaints about his election, he felt it was rigged. he s an election denier. he doesn t want to accept the results of the election. reporter: the first shooting was on december 4th, when authorities say county commissioner adriann barboa s home was struck repeatedly by gunfire.
spending the night. reporter: o malley immediately suspected who the gunman might be. this man. hi, my name is solomon pena. i can speak with debbie o malley. reporter: he had been looking for o malley, went to her daughter s address and then to her home a month before the shooting. this is him on the other side of the fence. he seemed agitated. he seemed a little aggressive to me. i didn t consider him a threat then. but he was upset that he had lost the election. reporter: police arrested him monday in connection with a string of what they call politically motivated shootings of homes of four democratic leaders in new mexico. no one was injured. it is believed he is the mastermind that was behind this. reporter: police say he is suspected of hiring a contractor for cash to commit at least two of the four shootings. from december 4th to january 3rd. pena was a republican candidate for state house seat in new mexico. and he spent years in prison for burglary and larceny.