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Former UFC star Cain Velasquez was charged with attempted murder and faces other charges related to a shooting in California this week.
Velasquez, 39, was formally charged on Wednesday, and a San Jose Police Department report shed some light on the incident and gave an alleged motive behind the shooting. Police indicated the victim in the shooting was not the person Velasquez was allegedly targeting.
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Cain Velasquez reacts after his KO loss to Francis Ngannou of Cameroon in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Talking Stick Resort Arena Feb. 17, 2019, in Phoenix. (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
According to police, San Jose and Morgan Hill officers received a call about a man shooting into a vehicle with three passengers inside. The gunman was identified as Velasquez, and he allegedly shot one man, who was later transported to a local hospital with injuries, according to police. The report said Velasquez followed a woman and another man, who was later identified as Harry Goularte Jr.
Police said Velasquez fired a gun at Goularte, who was recently charged with molesting a close relative of the retired mixed martial artist. Goularte was charged with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act on a child on Feb. 25 and was granted supervised release, police said.
Goularte lived at a day care run by his mother. Goularte’s mother was inside the vehicle Velasquez shot at, according to police. Authorities said the day care had been temporarily shuttered.
Harry Goularte Jr was arrested Feb. 25, 2022, for allegedly touching a juvenile victim. (Santa Clara County Sheriff)
After Velasquez's arrest, Morgan Hill police recovered a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun in the suspect’s vehicle with nine bullets in a 10-round magazine, the police report said. There was another magazine in the console that had three bullets, and two .40-cliber casings were found in the passenger seat. Police said the gun was legally registered to Velasquez.
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Police said four shell casings were found at the site of the shooting, and a shell casing was lodged in the vehicle in which the victims had been sitting.
Velasquez’s attempted murder charge stems from him shooting at Goularte, according to The Mercury News. He is also facing a charge of shooting at an occupied vehicle, multiple assault counts and a weapons charge.
"The sad tragedy is that Mr. Velasquez chose to take the law into his own hands, endangering the public and everyone in the truck," Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, via KTVU. "This act of violence also causes more pain and suffering to his family."
Cain Velasquez was arrested Feb. 28, 2022. (San Jose Police Department)
Others defended Velasquez on social media.
Velasquez was a champion fighter in UFC. He won the UFC heavyweight championship over Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 in October 2010. After losing it in his next fight against Junior dos Santos, he recaptured the title over dos Santos at UFC 155. He defended the title twice and then lost it against Fabricio Werdum.
Velasquez last fought in UFC against current champion Francis Ngannou in February 2019. Ngannou won the fight in 26 seconds.
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Since retiring from mixed martial arts, Velasquez had been seen in pro wrestling performing for WWE and the Mexican wrestling promotion AAA.