Cain Velasquez allegedly shoots relative of man who allegedly molested his relative

Retired UFC fighter charged with attempted murder following incident in San Jose

Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Tuesday, after police ID’d him in a shooting that sent a man to a San Jose-area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He is being held without bail and an arraignment was set for Wednesday afternoon.

The motive behind the incident, according to TMZ, had something to do with the victim allegedly molesting one of Velasquez’s underage relatives on numerous occasions. The man was arrested over the allegations, arraigned, and granted release from custody.

The release is what allegedly prompted Velasquez’s attempt at vigilante’s justice. And as the rumors circulated on Twitter, multiple members of the MMA family tweeted their support for Velasquez, per MMAJunkie.com, saying that if true, the attempted murder was justified.

However, details from a story by The Mercury News tell a more complete, complicated story, and Brunson’s joke about marksmanship rings true in a very unfunny way.

“Velasquez followed 43-year-old Harry Goularte as he traveled Monday afternoon with his parents in a pickup truck from their San Martin home and through Morgan Hill, according to a criminal complaint and an accompanying San Jose police summary filed Wednesday. At one point, Velasquez shot at Goularte at least once near Butterfield Boulevard and Cochrane Road in Morgan Hill.”

A more aggressive chase ensued and Velasquez, traveling in his own pickup truck, caught up with the family near Monterey Road and Bailey Avenue in South San Jose at about 3:15 p.m., and rammed their vehicle before he fired several shots at them with a .40 caliber pistol, wounding Goularte’s stepfather in the arm and torso, according to authorities.

If true, and Velasquez shot the stepfather of an alleged molester instead of the actual molester, how does the internet feel about the incident now? It’s a completely horrendous story, and as is most often the case, there’s a ton of gray area to it.

“UFC fighter allegedly attempts to kill man who allegedly molested his family member” is a better headline than “UFC fighter allegedly accidentally shoots stepfather of man who allegedly molested his relative,” but the truth often gets in the way of a good story.