Police claim that the shooting started when the assailant began firing close to the residence. Image source: REUTERS.
According to authorities in Texas, it is believed that a man murdered five of his neighbors following a dispute over his practicing shooting with a semi-automatic weapon in the vicinity.
Eight-year-old child was one of the people who were impacted by the incident; everyone other was from Honduras.
The incident happened late on Friday night in Cleveland, a small hamlet in San Jacinto County, Texas.
Greg Capers, the local sheriff, reported that among those who were killed, two mothers were found lying on top of two surviving children.
Capers hypothesized that the ladies might have been making an effort to take care of the babies and keep them safe.
Additionally, he mentioned that all of the victims had been shot in the head from the neck up, almost like an execution.
The suspect, Francisco Oropez, is believed to be of Mexican origin and is currently evading arrest. He is considered to be armed.
Investigators speculate that the victims had requested Oropez, who was allegedly intoxicated, to cease firing as they were trying to put a baby to sleep.
However, the man reportedly responded by saying, “I’ll shoot out in my front yard, do what I want to in my own residence.”
After both parties returned to their respective homes, the perpetrator “topped off his magazine, and walked down his driveway… into the people’s house and started shooting,” according to Sheriff Capers.
At the time of the incident, there were a total of ten individuals present on the property.
The adults were pronounced dead at the scene, while the eight-year-old victim died later at a hospital.
Although the shooter is believed to have left the county, the sheriff’s office is advising residents to remain indoors as a precautionary measure.
A local neighbor named Veronica Pineda said that she had heard the sound of the gunfire. Pineda did add that there was frequently gunshots in the area and that the locals frequently phoned the police to report it.
She continued by saying that nothing had been done to resolve the issue.
Pineda said that when she first heard about the shooting, she thought it was just another ordinary day and had no idea that such an occurrence would take place.
This incident happened only a few days after a shooting at a teen party in western Texas left nine people injured. Four young people were killed two weeks earlier in Alabama at a 16th birthday party.
The primary cause of death among adolescents and teenagers in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is gun-related incidents.