One of the three men suspected of shooting over 100 rounds off the I-30 bridge near Downtown Dallas on New Year's Eve was sentenced Monday to 35 months in federal prison for overstaying his visa.
Jose Raul Alarcon Sanchez, 18, pleaded guilty to possessing a gun while being in the country illegally, according to court documents. Sanchez allegedly overstayed a temporary visitor visa from Mexico.
Prosecutors said Sanchez and another man fired the shots off the Margaret McDermott Bridge just after midnight on Jan. 1. Cars were stopped on the bridge and people were gathered on the road to watch New Year's Eve fireworks.
“Spraying rifle fire off a downtown bridge is a lawless act that puts our Dallas residents at risk,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a press release. “This sentence makes clear that anyone who turns a celebration into a crime scene will face swift and serious federal consequences. We will not tolerate violent, brazen conduct that endangers the public, and we will continue to use every federal tool available to protect North Texans.”
Videos of the bridge shooting spread rapidly across social media earlier this year, with one video posted by FOX 4 garnering more than 6.5 million views.
Sanchez can be seen in one video released by Dallas police taking turns with another man shooting off the bridge while a third records. Another video released by police also shows an unidentified man shooting a rifle out of a car window while driving.
Sanchez was arrested later the same day in Grand Prairie as police responded to a call about gunshots. He was charged with discharging a firearm in Grand Prairie — a Class A misdemeanor.
It's not clear whether he was charged for shooting off the bridge.
Investigators then later searched Sanchez’s house and found an “AR-15-style pistol” linked to the fired cartridge casings recovered on the bridge.
Today, the Dallas Police Department announced the arrests of two suspects connected to a New Year’s Eve gunfire incident on the I-30 bridge that was captured in a widely circulated video and viewed worldwide.
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) January 29, 2026
Anthony Acevedo, 20, and Jose AlarconSanchez, 18, both of Grand… pic.twitter.com/xwdXAEHOSA
“What happened on that bridge could have ended in tragedy,” said ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Brian Garner. “But our agents and our law enforcement partners methodically followed the evidence —from the shell casings recovered at the scene to the firearm and ultimately to the individual who pulled the trigger.”
Anthony Acevedo, 20, was charged with shooting off the bridge, also a Class A Misdemeanor, but his case was dismissed after completing a pretrial intervention agreement with prosecutors, court records show.
Anderson Derce Lara, 25, was also arrested in connection with the shooting. He has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after investigators linked him to a separate road rage shooting that happened in November.
In that case, Lara is accused of firing multiple rounds into a vehicle containing three children and three adults.
Dylan Duke is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan at dduke@kera.org.
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