Authorities found the victims Friday night after receiving a harassment report about 11:30 p.m. local time, the sheriff said.
No fewer than five people including an 8-year-old were fatally shot, in a Cleveland, Texas, United States, home after a Friday night rampage that started with a noise complaint about gunfire.
This was made known by the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office, noting that the gunman, who remains at large, was apparently shooting a rifle in his yard when neighbors asked him to stop because a baby was trying to sleep.
He said the suspect then opened fire on the neighbors, CNN reports.
Authorities found the victims Friday night after receiving a harassment report about 11:30 p.m. local time, the sheriff said.
“The victims, they came over to the fence said, ‘Hey, could you mind not shooting out in the yard. We have a young baby that is trying to go sleep,’” Capers said.
A semi-automatic rifle is displayed above shotguns at Rainier Arms Friday, April 14, 2023, in Auburn, Washington. States are moving in polar opposite directions on guns. The suspect, who had been drinking, responded, “I’ll do what I want to in my front yard.”
According to the report; doorbell camera at the home of the victims at some point captured the suspect approaching with his rifle, Capers said.
Multiple people were shot around the residence, Capers said. Two female victims in a bedroom used their bodies to shield two young children who survived, he added.
“They were trying to take care of them babies and keep them babies alive,” Capers said of the victims.
The victims were shot above the neck at close range – “almost execution style,” according to Capers.