A defeated Republican candidate in New Mexico's largest city was arrested for shooting at Democratic politicians' homes while driving by.
Police said that SWAT teams took 39-year-old Solomon Pena into custody and searched his residence on Monday evening.
The authorities said Pena was bitter about losing and had made unfounded assertions that the US Elections in November had been "rigged" against him, per AP News.
When asked about the gunshots at the homes of two county commissioners and two state lawmakers between early December and early January, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina called Pena the "mastermind" of what looked to be a politically motivated scheme, according to CBS News.
Three bullets hit a state senator's 10-year-old daughter's bedroom, but no one was hurt.
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Investigators identified five participants in the plot and tied the last shooting directly to Pena. He has been accused of a crime based on evidence from multiple witnesses, computer and cell phone data, security cameras, and guns.
The arrest of Pena comes after the arrest of an unnamed man last week who was thought to be involved in at least one of the shootings.
Pena Unleashed Series of Shootings
At least eight shots were fired at the residence of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa in early December, according to authorities. Within days of the initial attack, the house of state representative Javier Martinez was targeted, and a week after that, former Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O'Malley's home was fired at, according to the police.
The Republican shooting case is still being probed by investigators.
The November US elections did not favor Solomon Pena when he challenged Miguel P. Garcia, the veteran Democrat representing House District 14 in the South Valley. Garcia won the polls by 48 percentage points or around 3,600 votes.
The arrest of Solomon Pena takes place only one day before the New Mexico legislature is scheduled to start its session, as per an NPR report.
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