{"id":42741,"date":"2022-01-12T19:50:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T02:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/man-who-fired-seven-gunshots-into-durango-bar-hitting-two-people-sentenced-to-prison\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:09:24","slug":"man-who-fired-seven-gunshots-into-durango-bar-hitting-two-people-sentenced-to-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/man-who-fired-seven-gunshots-into-durango-bar-hitting-two-people-sentenced-to-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who fired seven gunshots into Durango bar, hitting two people, sentenced to prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Quirova\"
Quirova<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Durango man was sentenced to 24 years in prison Wednesday, nearly a year after he fired seven shots from a handgun into the patio of the 8th Ave. Tavern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just one word that sums up this case, and that\u2019s senseless,\u201d said 6th Judicial District Judge William Herringer. \u201cThis was senseless violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a plea agreement with the 6th Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office, Michael Quirova, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree assault. In accordance with the plea agreement, he was facing 20 to 24 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Assistant District Attorney David Ottman asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 24 years. Ottman said the sentencing was not a matter of rehabilitation, but about protecting the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an intentional, violent act that Mr. Quirova provided no reason other than he was angry,\u201d Ottman said.<\/p>\n

Public defender Mary Pero argued for a 20-year sentence, saying that before the shooting, Quirova had never been convicted of a violent offense. She said Quirova had spent much of his life in prison for different offenses, and likely experienced trauma that influenced his decisions the night of the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who go to prison often have trauma,\u201d Pero said. \u201cThis young man that has been incarcerated for a majority of his life, and I think that has contributed to an inability to process his emotions and feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quirova has a criminal record dating to 2008 that includes convictions for burglary, possession of a controlled substance, vehicular eluding and flight escape.<\/p>\n

According to a report in The Colorado Springs Gazette<\/em>, in 2013 Quirova had a long standoff with police, in which he allegedly held a female hostage against her will inside an apartment.<\/p>\n

Herringer chose to sentence Quirova to two consecutive prison sentences of 12 years each, totaling 24 years \u2013 the maximum allowed under the plea agreement. He agreed with Ottman\u2019s point that Quirova represents a threat to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worry about what will happen, no matter how long I sentence Mr. Quirova, when he comes back into the community,\u201d Herringer said.<\/p>\n

Quirova chose not to address the court at the sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

The shooting occurred about 11 p.m. Jan. 29, 2021, when Quirova randomly fired gunshots into the patio of 8th Ave. Tavern, at 509 East Eighth Ave., hitting Stephanie Celeste Faumui and Jeffrey Michael Starns.<\/p>\n

Both were taken to Mercy Hospital where they were treated and released the next day. Starns was shot in the leg. Faumui was shot in the right shoulder, about a half-inch from her spine. She has undergone months of physical therapy and will never be able to wait tables or play volleyball again, she said.<\/p>\n

Speaking through tears Wednesday, Faumui told Herringer that her mental recovery has been more difficult than the physical recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a day goes by where I don\u2019t feel the stabbing in my arm and in my spine,\u201d Faumui said.<\/p>\n

During the sentencing hearing, members of Quirova\u2019s family addressed the court, expressing love for Quirova and pleading with the judge for a 20-year sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019s not a monster, and I know he\u2019s not a violent person, said Quirova\u2019s mother Felicia Acosta. \u201c\u2026 He made poor choices as he became an adolescent. I don\u2019t know why he had access to a gun, and I really wish this whole situation wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

njohnson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

she feels pain and trauma of shooting every day<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1078,168,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-6th-judicial-district","tag-crime","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85441,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42741\/revisions\/85441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42741"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}