A Vancouver man who allegedly tried to kill his estranged wife and her male friend as they slept early Saturday morning was interrupted when his 11-year-old son tackled him to the floor, court records show.
Ruben Prado Blancas, 43, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of first-degree domestic violence burglary in connection with a shooting at a home in Five Corners.
His estranged wife, identified in court records as Amy Blancas, and her friend Zakarius Gillis were each wounded in their extremities. Their conditions were unavailable Monday.
The Blancases have been separated for more than a year, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance and gunshots about 1:30 a.m. at a home in the 9700 block of Northeast 115th Court. Deputies found Amy Blancas and Gillis suffering from gunshot wounds to their arms. The wounds were not life-threatening, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Blancases’ 11-year-old son told police that Gillis, a close friend of his mother, spent the night at their house. All of the doors to the house were locked when they went to bed. The boy awoke, he said, when his father opened his bedroom door, slightly, and looked into his room. Ruben Blancas asked his son if he was going to go to sleep, and the boy replied yes, the affidavit said.
About five minutes later, the boy said he heard his mother scream, followed by a gunshot. He ran to her bedroom and saw his father in there with a rifle, and his mother and Gillis were bleeding, court documents said. The boy recognized the rifle, he said, as one that belongs to his father, according to court documents.
The boy pushed his father to the floor, and with Gillis’ help, held him down until police arrived, court records said.
Amy Blancas told police that she awoke to the sound of her bedroom door opening and a fan falling over, and saw her estranged husband standing next to her side of the bed. He pointed a rifle at her face. When she tried to sit up, she knocked the rifle away from her face and it fired, the affidavit said. The bullet struck her in the left arm.
Gillis said he also woke up and saw Ruben Blancas pointing a rifle at Amy Blancas’ head. When she knocked it aside and it fired, Gillis got up and held Ruben Blancas down. That’s when he noticed he was bleeding and his right arm hurt, according to court documents.
Amy Blancas said her estranged husband has been stalking and threatening her since they separated. She tried to obtain a domestic violence order for protection in November, but was unable to serve him a copy because he was hiding in the Salem, Ore., area, the affidavit said. She said she also filed for divorce and changed the locks on the house.
She said Ruben Blancas also has threatened to kill her on multiple occasions, sent threatening text messages and assaulted her. She provided her cellphone to police. He sent threatening messages to Gillis, as well, court records said.
Blancas was arrested at the scene.
Deputies discovered that Blancas forced his way into the house through a door to the garage. The doorknob was loose, and the door had pry marks on it, the affidavit said. A few feet inside the garage, there were two fired and two unfired .22 caliber rounds on the floor. Deputies also found shell casings in Amy Blancas’ bedroom and blood on the bedding, according to court documents.
During his court hearing, Judge Daniel Stahnke set Ruben Blancas’ bail at $300,000 and ordered he not have contact with either of the victims. He appointed defense attorney Jeff Staples to represent Blancas. Staples was not present, however.
Blancas will be arraigned June 3.
