UFC Star Cain Velasquez’s Shooting Target Allegedly Molested A Family Member -- New Details Emerge

The reasons why Cain Velasquez allegedly perpetrated a shooting in San Jose on Monday are becoming more clear.

As we previously reported, the UFC champion was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after opening fire near a school in Santa Clara County, California. A victim of the shooting was taken to a hospital with non-fatal injuries. Velasquez was held without bail through Wednesday, when a court hearing was scheduled. And on Tuesday, police said in a statement that “the motive and circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation at this time.”

Since that time, more details have emerged that made the athlete’s apparent motive for the alleged shooting somewhat more clear. Specifically, The San Jose Mercury-News reported that his intended target, Harry Eugene Goularte, was accused of molesting Velasquez’s close relative at a local daycare.

According to the outlet, 43-year-old Goularte “lives at the home that hosts a daycare business run by his mother.” The victim’s name and exact relationship to Velasquez has been withheld because they are a minor and a reported victim of sexual abuse. However, per the local NBC affiliate, court documents suggested the abuse may of occurred up to “100 times.” NBC Bay Area reported that the alleged molestation took place in the daycare bathroom, and “the victim saw other children go in there with Goularte as well.” However, “Goularte denied any wrongdoing, saying he once just helped a child put his pants on correctly.”

A criminal complaint obtained by the Mercury-News revealed that Goularte was charged with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14. He was arraigned on Friday and granted supervised release “over objections from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.”

Sources for TMZ claimed that “the release infuriated Velasquez so much, he attempted to take justice into his own hands” by perpetrating the shooting. The Mercury-News stated that the WWE alum allegedly opened fire on a car with Goularte, Goularte’s stepfather, and one other individual inside. Goularte’s stepfather was apparently the injured person taken to the hospital, and is expected to survive.

Members of the American Kickboxing Academy, the South San Jose gym where Velasquez trained and coached other fighters, expressed their disbelief about the reported shooting.

One of them, Giovanni Amador Rosales, told the Mercury-News:

“We’re all fighters, and I know that what you see on television is us beating people up. But we’re humble … and Cain Velasquez has always been a humble guy, in defeat and victory. I’ve never seen him once in my entire life here ever throw a fit ever once — not once a tantrum, nothing. He’s not an angry guy at all.”

Sadly, if this reporting is indeed accurate, we can understand how Velasquez came to allegedly do something that is apparently so out of character.

While there is never any excuse for violence, this heartbreaking scenario has certainly shed a light on his apparent motives.

We hope that justice is served in this extremely sad situation.

[Image via San Jose Police Media Relations/Twitter]