The tattoo shop Vato Loco (screengrab via KXAS). Inset: suspect Javier Arredondo (via Arlington (Tex.) Police).
A Texas tattoo shop owner is facing a murder charge after he fired an employee, then shot and killed him during an argument, Arlington police said in a Facebook post.
Police received a 911 call around 2:14 p.m. Tuesday from the owner, 42-year-old Javier “Big Dawg” Arredondo, saying the employee he fired was refusing to leave the store. While officers were en route, another call came in about shots being fired at the business.
When officers arrived, they found the employee, a 46-year-old man, lying on the ground inside the business with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Arredondo remained at the business.
Detectives later learned that Arredondo and the employee had a “tense verbal exchange” following the employee’s firing.
“Then, minutes after placing the 911 call, Mr. Arredondo pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots at the employee, striking him,” Arlington police said.
There was apparently no one else in the business at the time of the shooting, as Arredondo asked other employees to leave during the argument. Investigators found no weapons on the employee and it did not appear he tried to assault Arredondo, police said.
After speaking with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, Arredondo was arrested on a murder charge. The name of the victim will be released once next of kin is notified.
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Police didn’t name the business but Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA reported the shooting happened at Vato Loco Tattoo Studio. A sign on the door said “Shop closed! Sorry for any inconvenience…Thx Mgmt,” video taken by the TV station shows.
Arredondo’s profile page on the parlor’s website says his nickname is “Big Dawg.” He was born in Laredo, Texas and grew up in Chicago before moving back to Texas in 1998, his profile said.
He said he became a tattoo artist in the early 2000s and would “tattoo the homies while they would smoke weed, drink 40’s and hang with the females.”
“I was always a trouble maker growing up but now I channel that energy into art,” he told Pain Magazine, which was posted on his Instagram page. “… I feel like I’m skipping school every day when I come to work and then I get to do art all day. I love what I do and I don’t ever want to take it for granted.”
Arredondo was taken to the Arlington City Jail where he is being held without bond. An Arlington police spokesman said the probable cause arrest affidavit could be available later today.
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