Police identify a man who was killed after being shot 8 times by a Vernal man

VERNAL, Utah (ABC4 News) – Police have identified a man who was shot dead multiple times in Vernal last week.

Police responded Wednesday to a report of a person brandishing a gun in an apartment complex at 295 North 120 West.

RELATED: Vernal Mann Shot Multiple Times, Suspect Detained After 2 Hour Stalemate

When the officers arrived, they found the front door of one of the apartments open and 25-year-old Joe Bosque lying on the living room floor with multiple gunshot wounds.

The police found a small caliber weapon and a .22 caliber grenade next to him.

Two men said they heard gunfire and came to check on the victim, who was breathless and had difficulty responding. Rescue workers arrived and took the man to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Witnesses at the nearby apartment complex said they saw Christopher Travis Herrera, 31, walking around with a gun.

Herrera was in a residence near 700 West 500 South after escaping from officials who stopped his vehicle. Herrera barricaded himself in the house and surrendered after two hours of negotiations with the police.

During an interview with police, Herrera said the victim came to the 251 West 400 North area to talk about a gun he wanted and that he shot him multiple times because he didn’t like his behavior and he deserved it. Herrera told police that he was only trying to injure him, not kill him, the documents say.

The autopsy report showed that the man had been shot eight times, two of them from the front and the remaining shots, according to documents, from behind or from above.

At the time of the shooting, Herrera was on probation for theft, assault, domestic violence in the presence of children and burglary.

Herrera was admitted to the Uintah County Jail for a first degree capital murder.

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