Police say a 14-year-old is a suspect in a Texas convenience store shooting that left 3 dead
By Raja Razek and Andy Rose, CNN
A 14-year-old who is considered “armed and dangerous” has been identified as a suspect in a convenience store shooting Sunday that left three teenagers dead, and one teen injured in Garland, Texas, according to the Garland Police Department.
CNN is not naming the 14-year-old at this time.
The teen victims were identified Monday as Xavier Gonzalez, 14, Ivan Noyala, 16, and Rafael Garcia, 17, police said in a news release. A 15-year-old boy was taken to the hospital and was stable, the release said.
Detectives discovered evidence identifying the 14-year-old “as the shooter responsible” for the incident, Garland Police said in a news release Wednesday.
The teen is actively evading capture, according to police, and considered armed and dangerous.
Investigators say the teen suspect is the son of a man who previously turned himself in to authorities. Investigators said in a Tuesday news release that the man allegedly drove a Dodge Ram to the store “with the shooter,” and later “was seen fleeing with the shooter inside the vehicle.”
The man was charged with capital murder and is being held on a $1,000,000 bond at the Garland Detention Center. The Garland Police Department did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for information regarding the charges.
On Monday, Garland Police Chief Jeff Bryan said another 14-year-old suspected “to be the shooter” had been arrested.
But police said Tuesday that “based on new information in the investigation,” the 14-year-old is not being charged at this time and has been released to his family.
“Detectives learned that the 14-year-old male who was taken into custody yesterday has intimate knowledge of the shooting, and he is cooperating with the investigation,” the release from the police department said. He “remains a person of interest in the investigation,” police said Wednesday.
During a news conference Monday, police played video from the scene that showed the outside of the store. In the video, a person wearing shorts and no shirt opened the door to the store and began shooting.
“The gun used in this incident was a 40-caliber pistol. It had an extended magazine,” Bryan said. “We know he fired at least 20 rounds because we found the shell casings.”
Police believe the shooting was retaliatory and was a “targeted attack on one or more of the persons inside the store,” police said in the news release.
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CNN’s Amir Vera and Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.
