Trial to begin in Fall River Superior Court concerning fatal shooting of Angel Cruz where suspect also allegedly fired at police with stolen gun

A trial is set to begin in Fall River Superior Court Monday concerning a shooting that killed one and also injured another.

Jon Zell, an 18-year-old from Mattapoisett at the time of the incident, was arraigned on Murder and firearm related charges.

New Bedford Police received 911 calls on November 27th, 2020, regarding shots fired on Lafrance Street at around 10:21 a.m. When officers arrived on scene, they located one of two victims and rushed him to St. Luke’s Hospital. That victim, who was later identified as 40-year-old New Bedford resident, Angel Cruz, was later pronounced deceased.

A second shooting victim was able to get into a vehicle and attempted to drive to the hospital, but crashed in the area of Linden and County streets. That victim, a 32-year-old New Bedford man, was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital before being transported to Rhode Island Hospital. He survived.

While police were investigating the double-shooting, they received a description of the shooter. About 45 minutes after the double-shooting, New Bedford Police officers came upon a man matching the shooter’s description near the corner of Penniman and Reynolds streets. When officers allegedly approached Zell, he began firing an alleged stolen handgun at them. After firing all the bullets in the gun, police were able to subdue him and take him into custody.

No officers were injured during the incident and none of the officers returned fire on the suspect before getting him into custody.

At the time of the shooting, a GoFundMe fundraiser raised over $4,000 for Ortiz’s service.