Six people, including a 17-year-old mother and a 6-month-old baby, were killed in a California home shooting described as a “horrific massacre” on Monday, according to police.
Authorities are calling the attack, which took place at a home in Goshen, California, a deliberate one. Additionally, a narcotics search warrant had been conducted the previous week at the victims’ home.
“[We] believe that this is not a random act of violence,” stated Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux in a media briefing. “We believe that this was a targeted family. We believe that there are gang associations involved in this scene, as well as potential narcotics investigations.”
According to Boudreaux, at just before 4 a.m. on Monday morning, deputies were summoned to the home due to a call reporting multiple shots fired. “Actually, they believed there was an active shooter in the area because of the number of rounds being fired,” Boudreaux said.
Upon arrival, police immediately noticed two victims dead in the street, followed by a third in the doorway, and the rest located both inside and outside the house.
One victim was found alive and taken to the hospital, but was eventually pronounced dead, according to Boudreaux.
He added there were at least two suspects at large who had not been caught.
“The whole situation is tragic,” Boudreaux stated.
The sheriff noted that there is potential information that he is not at liberty to disclose, but may lead to identifying the California home shooting suspects.
He also added that there were survivors on the California home shooting scene, saying they were escorted off the property and will be interviewed.