A shooting that occurred early Monday morning in the municipality of Goshen (located in Tulare County, California) left 6 dead, including a 17-year-old mother and her 6-month-old baby, local authorities reported.
The Tulare County Sheriff's Office reported that the event occurred around 3:30 a.m. (11:30 GMT) at
house number 6800 Harvest Road
, an address that last week was searched for drug trafficking and where a man was arrested and weapons, marijuana and methamphetamine were seized.
The agents found
two lifeless people at the door of the house
, another in
a bed inside it
and
three more in a surrounding area
of this rural town of about 5,000 inhabitants located in the Central Valley of the state of California.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said in a statement that the victims included a 17-year-old mother, her 6-month-old baby and an elderly woman, all
shot in the head.
Apparently, according to the sheriff's account, the teenage mother was trying to flee with her son when she was killed.
Although the identity of the deceased has not been revealed, it emerged that the rest of the victims are three men, one of whom was revived and transferred to the nearest hospital, where he died as a result of gunshot wounds.
Due to the damage caused to the victims' faces, it has not yet been possible to identify whether the man arrested last week was among them.
On the other hand,
two women survived the attack by hiding
in a trailer on the property after having seen the perpetrators of the massacre forcibly entering the home on a security camera.
The authorities came after receiving an emergency call from one of the neighbors warning of the possible presence of an active shooter, due to the large number of shots that had been heard.
For the moment, the hypothesis that it is an isolated event has been ruled out and
an attack led by a drug cartel is considered
as the main motive for this event.
In fact, this area of Tulare County is home to significant legal and illegal marijuana and methamphetamine production.
"This level of violence does not respond to the pattern of an ordinary gang member (...)
If they specifically shoot everyone in the head, it is because they know what they are doing
and they feel comfortable with what they are doing," Boudreaux said in statements to the
Los Angeles Times
.
Likewise, Tulare County Supervisor Eddie Valero issued a statement defining this massacre as "the worst nightmare" and "a senseless act of violence even against babies."
The
investigation remains open while the Tulare Sheriff's Office
, from which the collaboration of any neighbor with information in this regard has been requested, continues to search for two suspects.
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