A manhunt was underway on Saturday after five people were fatally shot, including an 8-year-old child, inside a home in southeast Texas, police said.
Deputies with the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office were initially called to a residence in the Trails End Area of Cleveland late Friday night to investigate reports of harassment, Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters. While they were en route, authorities received a series of 911 calls about a shooting at the same location.
Capers said the suspect has been known to shoot his AR-15 in the yard of his home. Investigators believe he was intoxicated and began firing the weapon on his front porch in the moments before the killings, KTKR reported.
Around 11:30 p.m., his neighbors requested that he limit the noise, explaining they had a baby trying to sleep inside, but he came enraged by the request and opened fire on them instead.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they discovered four people dead inside the home, according to Click2Houston. A child was also wounded and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead a short time later.
Authorities also found three other children at the scene. They were evaluated by paramedics and taken to a hospital, where officials concluded they were not injured. Two more people were evaluated by a medical team, and have since been released.
In total, 10 people were inside the house when the violence unfolded, Capers said. The victims ranged in age from 8 to 40 years old and they are all from Honduras, KHOU reported.
Authorities did not identify the alleged gunman, but have described him as a Hispanic man who is 5-feet-8-inches tall with a goatee and short black hair. They have issued a warrant out for his arrest on five counts of murder. His bond is set at $5 million.
While authorities have a good idea of who carried out the shooting, they are not sure of his whereabouts. Capers said he likely fled the county and that “he’s at least 10 to 20 miles away from here.”
The identities of the victims won’t be released until next of kin has been notified.