A Texas man who went next door with a rifle and opened fire on his neighbors, killing an 8-year-old boy and four other people, all apparently Hondurans, authorities said Saturday. The family had asked him to stop shooting in his yard because the noise kept them from sleeping.
San Jacinto Sheriff Greg Capers said authorities were looking for the 39-year-old suspect after the massacre that occurred overnight in Cleveland, a town 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Houston. He said the suspect, whom he did not identify, used an AR-15 rifle in the killing.
“Everyone was shot from the neck up, almost as if they were executed,” Capers told a news conference from the site.
The officer added that there were 10 people in the home and no one else was hurt. Two of the victims were lying on top of two children inside the house.
“The Honduran ladies lying on top of these children were looking to protect them,” Capers said.
Before the shooting, family members had walked to the fence separating the two homes to ask the suspect to stop firing rounds, Capers added. He replied that he was on his property, and a person in the house filmed him approaching the door with the rifle, he added.
Three of the victims are women. Their names were not released. They were between the ages of 8 and 40, Capers said.
Authorities had previously gone to the suspect’s home, the sheriff said. “Agents had gone to talk to him about firing his gun in the yard,” he said.
Capers noted that some in the house had moved from Houston days before, but he didn’t know if they planned to settle there.
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