Police said Monday they believe they know who shot 30-year-old Anthony Ruiz on Hattie Street.
Ruiz, of Schenectady, was gunned down inside an apartment at 527 Hattie St. just after 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
“We’re pretty comfortable we know who did it,” police spokesman Lt. Brian Kilcullen said. “It’s just a matter of tying up loose ends and finding the individual.”
Ruiz was hit by a shotgun blast in the apartment’s living room.
He had been there for a small gathering of friends.
Kilcullen described it as a barbecue in the backyard where alcohol was consumed.
At some point an argument broke out between Ruiz and another person.
Ruiz was shot and died in the apartment.
Neighbor Nikki Gordon heard the shot. She was watching television when she heard what sounded like firecrackers.
Then she heard yelling outside.
“We just came out and asked him what was wrong,” Gordon said. “The cops pulled up at the same time. He was saying someone was shot dead up in his house.”
The group of friends had been hanging out in the back yard, she said. She didn’t hear any commotion until the shot.
“There wasn’t fighting or arguing, nothing that I heard,” she said.
The killing is the city’s fifth of the year and the fourth gunshot death.
Police remained on the scene through much of Monday. Evidence technicians could be seen outside during the afternoon photographing the scene.
The front door remained open. Crime scene tape remained tied up from neighboring houses.
On the porch, a small memorial had sprung up by early morning. Roses, candles and, tucked in with them, an empty beer bottle.
Gordon was on her own porch, watching people come and go.
She said she has lived there for 10 years. The house is across Hattie from Rupsis Tavern.
“It’s very nice and quiet, mostly homeowner houses,” she said, “good neighbors.”
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