5 dead in Texas shooting, suspect armed with AR-15 is on the loose
Five people are dead after being shot in a home by a suspect armed with AR-15 style rifle, police say.
The incident occurred at approximately 11:31 p.m. local time when officials from the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office received a call about harassment in Cleveland, Texas -- a small town located about 55 miles north of Houston.
But when authorities arrived at the location they found several victims shot at the property, police said.
The youngest victim in the shooting was 8-years-old and two female victims were discovered in the bedroom lying on top of two surviving children, authorities told ABC News.
The suspect is a Mexican male armed with an AR-15 style rifle and is intoxicated, authorities say. They are looking for a Hispanic male who is approximately 5’8” tall who was last seen wearing blue jeans with a black shirt and work boots and is described as having short black hair.
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“The Mexican male subject, he has been known to shoot his 223 out in his front yard, which is evident by the shell casings that are laying in the front yard,” said the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office.
At least 10 people were in the home when police arrived on scene and all of the victims were between the ages of eight and 40-years-old.
Locals in the Cleveland, Texas, area are being told to “stay inside [and] stay clear” of the crime scene until the investigation has concluded.
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Police did not disclose the identity, ages or possible relationship to the suspect but did confirm that the shootings all took place in one home, the victims were all from Honduras and that four of the victims were declared dead at the scene with the other declared dead after being taken to the hospital.
This is an active crime scene and investigation but police said that even though the suspect is on the run, they do not believe he is currently in the area.
Sheriff Greg Capers of the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office spoke to ABC News' Houston station KTRK and said that all of the victims were shot from the neck up “almost execution style.”
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“Everybody that was shot was shot from the neck up almost execution style, basically in the head,” he said.
Capers said they have identified the shooter and believe he is some 10 to 12 miles away from the crime scene but have not been able to locate him yet.
“We are getting closer to him every minute of every hour but we know who he is,” Capers said. “He is from Mexico. The victims themselves were from Honduras.”
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The shooter reportedly went to the house where the shooting took place after neighbors asked him to quiet down because a baby was trying to sleep, Capers said.
“My understanding is that the victims, they came over to the fence and said ’Hey could [you not do your] shooting out in the yard? We have a young baby that’s trying to go to sleep,” and he had been drinking and he says ’I’ll do what I want to in my front yard,’” Capers told KTRK.
The shooter was known to shoot his AR-15 style rifle in his front yard. Capers said, and police found two other weapons in the house in a search following the shooting. Capers also confirmed they are interviewing the shooter’s wife.
Capers also described how some victims appeared to shield their children. In the bedroom of the house, police found two dead bodies atop unharmed victims who were covered in blood.
“In my opinion, they were actually trying to take care of the babies and keep them babies alive,” Capers said.
Nearby resident, Veronica Pineda, spoke with KTRK and said she has grown accustomed to neighbors shooting firearms in the area.
“There’s always shootings, there’s always shooting,” she said to KTRK. “There’s always people calling the cops and there’s nothing being done.”
She said that neighbors would frequently shoot firearms on weekends and holidays and that the sound of gunshots overnight was normal.
“We were in bed and my kids -- I have two babies -- they got scared, and we’re like, ‘it’s normal they’re always shooting.’”
She said she did not know the alleged shooter well but she would wave to him when he would pass by with his horses.
ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
5 dead in Texas shooting, suspect armed with AR-15 is on the loose originally appeared on abcnews.go.com