National/World Editor
On Jan. 16, in the small Californian farming community of Goshen, two unknown assailants shot and killed six people in a residential home.r Authorities found several victims, including a 17-year-old mother and her six-month-old baby, around the property with gunshot wounds in the head, as well as one live victim at the scene who later died at the hospital.
Police arrived on scene at 4:00AM after receiving calls about gunshots in the area. Two women, found on scene, managed to survive the attack by hiding behind two trailers on the property, while another surviving man was found hiding in the home. As of Jan.21, authorities have not yet apprehended anyone, although they have two suspects. Police identified the victims as Rosa Parraz, 72; Eladio Parraz, Jr., 52; Jennifer Analla, 49; Marcos Parraz, 19; Alissa Parraz, 16; and Nycholas Parraz, 10 months.
The nature of the crime led the sheriff’s department to call the shooting a targeted attack, as authorities had previously raided the home under a drug-related search warrant last week. At the time, the authorities seized guns, methamphetamine, and marijuana on the property. Sheriff Mike Bordeuax of Tulare County, whose officers responded to the crime, said that the “manner and swiftness of the crime” indicate that the assailants were “experienced in murder.” To investigators, this evidence suggests that local gangs and cartel organizations may have been involved in the shooting, though nothing is known for certain.
In recent years, authorities in Tulare county, where the shooting occurred, and surrounding areas, have combated a drug trade that seems to percolate through the region. In 2020, nearly fifty pounds of methamphetamine were seized in a traffic stop, with officers further uncovering three operational methamphetamine labs within the county. Additionally, a similar incident to the shooting in Goshen occurred in 2020, during which assailants shot and killed seven in a marijuana growth house in Riverside.
As authorities continue to pursue leads and attempt to identify the two assailants, the town of Goshen reels in the wake of what town supervisor Eddie Valero considers “everyone’s worst nightmare.” To move past this horrific shooting, local law enforcement now looks to continue combatting the continuing drug trade and the crimes that follow.
(Sources: NY Times, LA Times, Reuters, CNN, NPR, CBS)
Categories: Local News, News