Suspects in off-campus party shooting that hurt UK students appear in court

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Two men charged in connection with a shooting at a UK fraternity party appeared together in court Monday morning.

The cases of Jason Almanza-Arroyo and Juan Guerrero-Zendejas are moving forward. They are both accused of being involved in a shooting that injured nearly a dozen students.

Police say Almanza-Arroyo and another person showed up to a fraternity party on University Avenue back in September uninvited. Almanza-Arroyo is accused of firing a gun after an argument ensued.

One student was shot and 10 others were hurt by shrapnel.

It was a chaotic scene near UK’s campus.

The good news is all students are recovering, but that road hasn’t been easy.

“I feel like no one has really asked me about my injuries,” said shooting victim Christine Sprague. “I haven’t been talked to since the incident. It’s like they are assuming some people were shot in the leg, which is true but, um, I feel like they don’t really know the whole story. No one has asked me. No one has asked any of my friends. I am also frustrated that I am so behind in my school now and this could be my reason for not getting into nursing school.”

Almanza-Arroyo is facing 10 counts of assault and Guerrero-Zendejas is charged with fleeing police and resisting arrest in the party shooting case.

Both of them are also suspects in connection with a 2020 road rage shooting. According to court documents, on April 28, 2020, Lexington officers were dispatched to Boardwalk and Park Place in reference to a car wreck. Police say people in two vehicles were shooting at each other and one rammed the other, sending that vehicle into a light pole, then a tree, and finally into a ditch. The two people in the truck were seriously injured.

Court documents show Almanza-Arroyo and Guerrero-Zendejas were indicted by a grand jury on charges of assault and wanton endangerment in the road rage incident. Almanza-Arroyo pleaded guilty in that case and was set to be sentenced on September 16 when the party shooting happened on September 7.

The cases against them in the party shooting are now also moving to a grand jury and the two remain in the Fayette County Detention Center.

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