Jose Gregorio Sandoval (2005 photo)

Saturday at approximately 5:45 p.m., Cherokee County Dispatch received a call of shots being fired on County Road 3306. A minute later, another person called 9-1-1 and stated that his brother’s brother-in-law had been shot, and the alleged shooter (later identified as Jose Gregorio Sandoval, 44, from Jacksonville) fled the scene with a female passenger in the truck.

The victim, who was not being identified Saturday night, was transported to East Texas Medical Center Jacksonville, and then later taken to ETMC in Tyler for surgery. The sheriff’s office said in a press release that the victim was shot once in the abdomen with a .22 caliber pistol. He was alert and speaking with a deputy at the time EMS transported him to Jacksonville ETMC. No updates as to his condition were received as of late Saturday evening.

Investigators have been able to identify and speak to the female passenger who was in the vehicle when Sandoval fled the scene. The details of what led up to the shooting are still not clear at this time. However, investigators did learn that Sandoval was driving a red 1996 Dodge pickup truck, Texas License CXH-4507, last seen leaving his residence on Tilley street in Jacksonville. Two teenage boys, one of them being Sandoval’s son, reportedly willingly left with Sandoval in the red truck.

Anyone with information on where Sandoval may be hiding, or would have fled too, is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department or their local law enforcement.