Defendant fled to Mexico after La Finca shooting

WOODLAND, CA (MPG) – After a two-month trial which occurred during the COVID pandemic, a Yolo County jury convicted Jose Luis Gomez Arreola, 36, of Fairfield, of one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and eight counts of assault with a firearm.

On March 6, 2011, Gomez Arreola was at La Finca, a bar that played live music in Woodland. When the bar closed for the night, Gomez Arreola fired a .45 caliber semiautomatic firearm into the crowd, killing Gabriel Villareal Ibarra and wounding several others, including a nineteen-year-old female. Immediately after, Gomez Arreola fled to Mexico.

The Woodland Police Department continued to investigate the homicide. Bank, DMV, and employment records helped to locate Gomez Arreola while he evaded capture from law enforcement. Woodland Police Department continued their work on the case, and in July 2020, detectives located Gomez Arreola in Idaho where he was arrested.

District Attorney Jeff Reisig praised the dedicated efforts of the Woodland Police Department. “Those tenacious and dedicated detectives never gave up,” said Reisig. “This is one of those successes where though justice was delayed, it was not denied.”

Gomez Arreola faces up to life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by the Honorable David Reed on August 12, 2021.