Three individuals have been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a Texas flea market, including one of the suspected shooters, police said Tuesday.
Three children and two adults were shot Sunday at Cole´s Flea Market in the Houston suburb of Pearland, with a 10-year-old boy later dying at a hospital.
The others who were shot were also hospitalized with one of them later released. The shooting happened after an argument between two people who did not know each other, according to authorities.
Pearland police said that 19-year-old David Negrete, who they had been looking for after charging him Monday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, turned himself into authorities on Tuesday morning.
On Monday night, Pearland police announced that two individuals – Cruz Meza and Julianna Espino, both 18 years old – were each charged with tampering with evidence and making a false statement to an officer.
Meza was one of the five people shot Sunday, police said.
David Negrete. 19, (pictured) turned himself in on Tuesday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon connected to the mass shooting at Cole’s Flea Market in Texas on Sunday
Julianna Espino, 18, (pictured) was charged with tampering with evidence and making a false statement to an officer
Cruz Meza, 18, (pictured) was charged with tampering with evidence and making a false statement to an officer
Both Meza and Espino were being held at the Brazoria County Detention Center. Jail records did not list an attorney for either Meza or Espino.
Police said that three of the people shot – the 10-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 37-year-old man -were innocent bystanders caught in the incident.
Before Meza was arrested, police said they were investigating whether he had been involved in the shooting. Police were also reviewing whether a 16-year-old boy who was shot had also been involved in the shooting.
On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that authorities were offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Pearland is located about 21 miles south of Houston.
The horror unfolded on on Sunday afternoon around 5.34pm during a mass shooting at Cole´s Flea Market in the Houston suburb of Pearland.
Officers from the Pearland Police Department were dispatched to the area upon hearing shots were fired.
The five victims injured in the mass attack were then located and taken to local area hospitals where the ten-year-old boy was pronounced dead.
‘Preliminary investigations have revealed two Hispanic male subjects were involved in the altercation,’ the Pearland Police Department’s news release said.
They also revealed that at least two handguns were found at the scene, but the number of rounds fired is still unknown.
‘We believe there is at least one more, if not, two, other people that actually had handguns and fired those firearms during the scene.
‘There are possibly three suspects,’ Rogers said.
Two witnesses told police that they saw two men in an altercation before the chaotic scene began.
The 14-year-old girl and 37-year-old man were both taken to the hospital in stable condition and the man has since been released.
The two teenage victims were taken into surgery and detectives were trying to determine if they were involved in the incident.
Rogers said the shooting was not targeted toward the flea market and was caused by an argument between two men.
‘This is not anything that happens in Pearland, this is extremely tragic anytime someone is a victim of gun violence, especially in our community, this does not happen here in Pearland,’ he said.
Cole’s Antique Village & Flea Market in Pearland, Texas is the scene where Sunday’s mass shooting took place
Houston Police cars blocked access to Main Street near Sam Houston Parkway during Sunday’s mass shooting at the Texas flea market
Chad Roger, the public information officer for Pearland Police Department gives a statement to the media after a shooting took place outside Cole’s Antique Village and Flea Market on Sunday in Pearland, Texas, near Houston
Officers from the Pearland Police Department in Texas had issued a warrant for a 19-year-old suspect who killed a child and injured four others in the massacre.
Police said Negrete was wanted on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and has been considered armed and dangerous.
He was identified through surveillance footage and interviews from witnesses and victims.
The 19-year-old has also been added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Governor Abbot said that ‘Texas mourns the loss of a precious child following the devastating tragedy in Pearland yesterday, and our hearts are with the four other victims in the hospital as they recover from their injuries.’
The Pearland Police Department have stated that this is an ongoing investigation by their Criminal Investigations Division.