THOREAU, NM – Thoreau man Gerrick Mariano made an initial appearance in federal court after a criminal complaint was levied against him. The complaint charges Mariano with assault resulting in serious bodily injury on the Navajo Nation for an assault that allegedly took place in August 2022.
On February 22 a federal grand jury indicted Mariano for the August 22, 2022 incident. According to the indictment, Mariano was trying to scare his unnamed friend by grabbing a loaded AR-15 rifle and pointing it at the friend’s chest. The friend attempted to push the rifle away from him, moving the rifle to up and to the right, at this point the rifle was discharged and a bullet struck the friend in the upper-right shoulder. The friend was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where he survived.
Mariano is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and will remain in custody pending an unscheduled detention hearing. The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Department of Investigation, New Mexico State Police and the New Mexico Park Rangers. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Jones is prosecuting the case.