A suspect in a shooting at a downtown Santa Rosa nightclub that
club owners called "a hideous hate crime" was arrested in Sacramento Friday, police said today.
David Angelo Montano, 25, was initially identified as a suspect based on descriptions given by witnesses to the shooting, which occurred around 1:15 a.m. on July 3 at the Epic Social Lounge, according to Santa Rosa police.
Detectives tracked Montano to Sacramento and on Friday located him
in an apartment on the 800 block of San Juan Road.
He initially refused to come out of the apartment and surrender,
but eventually gave up and was taken into custody without incident by
Sacramento police, police said.
Police said the shooting occurred after Montano allegedly began
annoying other patrons at the 404 Mendocino Ave. nightclub, using profanity
and derogatory terms.
A 23-year-old male employee of the bar asked the man to leave and
escorted him from the bar. On the sidewalk in front of the nightclub, the man
allegedly pulled out a gun, shot the employee in the stomach and fled, police
said.
The victim, a Santa Rosa resident, was taken to a hospital for
surgery and is expected to survive.
On its Facebook page, the Epic Social Lounge said on July 3rd that
the shooting happened during a Pride Night event and called it a "hideous
hate crime."
"We stand strong and continue to support the Gay Community and
have a zero tolerance on violence," the lounge said on its Facebook page.
Today, after learning of Montano's arrest, the club posted a
message reading "Justice is served!"
"This isolated incident has definitely brought all of us together
and we are so overwhelmed with the out pour of support while having a
cohesive stance to promote equality for all," the club said in a statement on
the page.
Montano has been booked into jail and will be transferred back to
Sonoma County for prosecution, police said.
