Man shot to death in Columbus was owner of popular restaurant

Jonathan Javier Luna, 22, of Columbus, was in the Columbia County Jail on Friday waiting to appear in court on first-degree intentional homicide charges in the fatal shooting.

Columbus Mayor Joe Hammer said the victim, Jose De Jesus Fuentes Hernandez, 42, of Columbus, and his family are well known and respected in the city.

Hernandez was the owner of the popular Tequilas Bar and Grill Restaurant, 126 S. Ludington St. The restaurant opened in 2000. It remained closed on Friday, but had a handwritten note on the door said it would be open again at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“It is not that this doesn’t happen in a big city, but with small-town atmosphere, we care about everybody in our community,” Hammer said. “I would like to acknowledge the cooperation of all the law enforcement agencies coming together and getting close to resolving this issue.”

Columbus Police Chief Dennis Weiner said that an officer with the Columbus Police Department heard what sounded like fireworks in the downtown area at 1:31 a.m. Thursday. Simultaneously 911 calls were received reporting a fight.

“Upon (the officer’s) arrival in the area he located an adult male who had been shot,” Weiner said. “Life-saving measures were attempted, however, the victim was pronounced deceased a short time later at Prairie Ridge Health.”

“There is a family grieving with the loss of life due to gun violence,” Weiner said. “You need to keep that family in your thoughts and prayers. They are going through a very hard time now. Hopefully through the hard work that everyone did we can hopefully bring some degree of closure to them, but obviously you can never replace a family member.”

Weiner said there is still a lot of work being done including questioning Luna.

The motive is still being investigated, Weiner said, but there was an interaction between the two prior to the fatal shooting.

Weiner said Luna fled on foot down Dickason Boulevard on his way to Fuller Street.

“He lives on Fuller Street,” Weiner said. “The search was executed on Fuller Street.”

Weiner said Luna was able to view the Columbia County Emergency Response Team descending on his residence because of a neighbor live streaming the tactical situation.

Weiner said that the response team went to the Fuller Street residence to serve a search warrant in an armored vehicle.

“It is a very dangerous thing they were doing trying to take this suspect into custody to protect this community and to hold someone accountable,” Weiner said. “One of the neighbors of the suspect felt the need to stream their actions live on Facebook. The information that we have is the suspect was watching.”

Weiner said he hopes that the person is happy with a moment of fame, but he is very unhappy with the situation.

“It was a very dangerous event going after someone who just killed someone,” Weiner said. “He was most likely armed. Fortunately, the suspect was not home. Had he been, we could be here for a secondary outcome that I don’t really want to talk about.”

Weiner said he understands the man’s rights but thinks the man should have used common sense.

The gun believed to be used in the shooting was located on the path on which Luna fled, Weiner said. Several spent shell casings were recovered from the shooting scene. A broken window was located at a business in the 100 block of South Ludington Street, in front of which the shooting took place, and a bullet was recovered from the grill of a parked car about 100 feet away.

The help of the public was key in making an arrest, Weiner said. Business owners from the downtown area turned over video feeds that allowed authorities to identify the suspect.

Luna was not at his home, but authorities used technology to locate him at Microtel Inn & Suites in Madison, Weiner said. A search warrant was executed by the Madison Police Department’s Emergency Response Team, and Luna was taken into custody at 1:54 p.m. Thursday, about 12 hours after the shooting.

“The teamwork among the agencies in this case was seamless, Weiner said. “I am very proud of the team effort of everyone in this case.”

The Columbus Police Department also was assisted by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and its Emergency Response Team, Columbus Fire Department, Lifestar EMS, Fall River Police Department, Marshall Police Department, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and Crime Lab, Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.