April 29 (UPI) — Five people were killed and three others hospitalized after a gun-wielding suspect opened fire in a home located about 50 miles north of Houston, sheriff’s officials said Saturday.
Four people were found dead in a home a Cleveland, Texas, and a fifth, identified as an 8-year-old child, died en route to a local hospital, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said in a Facebook post.
Several of those injured are in critical condition, he said. A pediatric patient was flown from the shooting scene to a local hospital.
SWAT team members responding to the address determined that a likely suspect in the mass shooting had fled the county. An arrest warrant for the man has been issued by State District Judge John Wells with bond set a $5 million, Capers added.
The sheriff told KHOU-TV early Saturday the victims range in age from 8 to 40 years old and that they are all from Honduras, adding that authorities have been told the gunman was a neighbor known to shoot a rifle in the front yard of the residence.
The victims had all been shot from the neck up, “execution style,” Capers said, adding that the suspect, whom he was told had been drinking, reacted violently when asked to refrain from shooting the gun.
Authorities described the suspect as a Hispanic male armed with an AR-15 style rifle, approximately 5-foot-8 and last seen wearing blue jeans with a black shirt and work boots and is described as having short black hair.
