Texas Maintenance Worker Mistaken For Intruder Shot And Killed While Checking For Burst Pipes

 A maintenance worker at an apartment complex in Grand Prairie, Texas, was shot and killed on Christmas Eve after a resident mistook him for an intruder.

Cesar Montelongo, 53, was checking the Clayton Point Apartments complex for burst pipes when he was shot, according to Fox 4. Several pipes in the complex had previously ruptured.

Montelongo was on the balcony of one apartment looking for burst pipes One resident, however, reportedly thought Montelongo was attempting to burglarize the apartment, Fox 4 reported. So the resident allegedly grabbed a gun and shot Montelongo.

Montelongo was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the outlet reported. The resident who allegedly shot Montelongo has not been arrested. 

Montelongo was planning on celebrating his 29th wedding anniversary on Christmas Day, according to WFAA.

“And it’s sad that morning, the morning of the 24th, they went and had a breakfast date together because they knew everything was going to be closed on Christmas and then he didn’t make it to the anniversary,” Cesar Montelongo Jr. said, according to WFAA.

“Detectives determined the victim was checking multiple balconies for freezing and busted waterlines after several pipes had ruptured. The resident, who believed his apartment was being burglarized, armed himself with a firearm and shot the victim through a window,” the Grand Prairie Police Department said in a news release obtained by the Daily Caller.