Authorities: 2 arrested in California shooting that killed 6
VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — Two gang members were arrested early Friday, one after a gunbattle, in the January massacre of six people including a baby at a central California home associated with a rival gang, the Tulare County sheriff said.
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said Noah David Beard, 25, was taken into custody and Angel “Nanu” Uriarte, 35, was wounded in the shootout with federal agents and was undergoing surgery, but was stable and expected to survive.
“I’m happy we were able to put these two men behind bars,” the sheriff said.
The suspects and members of the victims’ family have a long history of gang violence but the motive for the shooting “is not exactly clear,” Boudreaux said at a news conference at the sheriff’s headquarters in Visalia.
The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office charged both suspects with six counts of murder and other crimes.
The six victims, including a teen mother and her baby, were gunned down on Jan. 16 in rural Goshen, a community of 3,000 in the San Joaquin Valley.
Both suspects had been under around-the-clock surveillance since Jan. 23, Boudreaux said.
The sheriff said the arrests stemmed from “Operation Nightmare” in which search warrants were served at locations in Goshen and Visalia, and about eight inmate cells associated with a prison gang were searched in five state prisons.
The multi-agency operation included the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The victims were identified as: Rosa Parraz, 72; Eladio Parraz, Jr., 52; Jennifer Analla, 49; Marcos Parraz, 19; Alissa Parraz, 16; and Nycholas Parraz, 10 months.
A surveillance video released by authorities Friday showed a teenage girl running outside and placing a baby on the other side of a fence, then jumping over it herself. Authorities said Beard shot and killed the teen and baby. They were both found dead in the street, shot in the back of the head, authorities said.
Among the adult victims was a woman who was found kneeling and shot in the head, authorities said.
The sheriff has said Alissa Parraz had just been awarded full custody of her son after he spent months in the foster care system. The two were reunited on Jan. 13 — three days before they were killed.
The Goshen killings were part of a violent and deadly month in California.
On Jan. 21, a shooting at Monterey Park dance hall killed 11 and wounded nine. The gunman later killed himself. On Jan. 23, shootings at two Half Moon Bay farms killed seven and wounded one before the suspect was arrested.
