A young mother and her 10-month-old child were shot to death while running for safety in a horrific incident that left six people dead in a small community in central California, according to the sheriff.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said at a press conference on Tuesday that Alissa Parraz, 16, and her son Nycholas were both shot in the head.
“I know for a fact that this young lady was running for her life,” said Boudreaux.
In what the sheriff described as a “cartel-like execution,” the adolescent was fleeing a house where at least two suspects had started firing.
The other four fatalities in Monday’s event were Marcos Parraz, 19, Eladio Parraz, 52, Rosa Parraz, 72, Alissa’s grandmother, and Jennifer Analla, 49, a close friend of a family member who escaped the massacre.
According to the sheriff, the victims were attacked just before 3:40 in the morning at their house in Goshen, California, a small farming community about 30 miles southeast of Fresno.
“These victims were certainly shot in the head and they were also struck in positions where the attacker would know that fast death would occur,” Boudreaux continued on Tuesday.
Police enforcement was aware of illegal activity at the property, according to Boudreaux.
But let me be clear: Not everybody in this house is a gang member. And not everyone who resides in this home is a drug dealer. The victim, a 16-year-old onlooker, is defenceless. The granny appears to be a victim inside. The 10-month-old child is unquestionably a victim who did not do anything wrong, Boudreaux said.
Three people managed to flee the shooting by hiding, according to Boudreaux, and they have been cooperating with the authorities.
The Goshen residents had been shocked by the killings, the sheriff acknowledged, but he reassured them that “This was not a random act of violence. Targeted violence was committed in this case. I don’t want the people here to be scared or worried.
32 mass shootings have occurred in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The organisation and CNN define a mass shooting as one in which four or more persons, excluding the shooter, are shot. As of Tuesday, 24 people had been injured and 17 children under the age of 11 had died from gunshot wounds, according to the archive.
Authorities in California are seeking at least two people and are offering a $10,000 prize for information that may result in their arrest.
Boudreaux asked for the release of any security footage that might have been taken on Monday between the hours of 3 and 5 am by surrounding homes and businesses.
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