(Photo: AP)
An argument escalated into a backyard shooting at a toddler’s birthday party in South Texas, leaving four men dead and a fifth man wounded, authorities said Sunday.
The shooting happened at a child’s first birthday party Saturday afternoon in Taft, 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Corpus Christi, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Sgt. Nathan Brandley said those involved were distant relatives. Authorities did not say what the men were arguing about, but said the shooting occurred in the backyard of a residence.
A 20-year-old man was in custody Sunday, Brandley said. The man’s 37-year-old father was also a suspect, but he had not yet been arrested, Brandley said.
Brandley identified those killed as 62-year-old Juan Espinoza Sr., 20-year-old Juan Sandoval III, 22-year-old Jeremy Sandoval, and 25-year-old Nicky Sandoval. He said the three younger men were Juan Espinoza Sr.’s grandsons.
The wounded man, 43-year-old Juan Espinoza Jr., was airlifted to a Corpus Christi hospital. Brandley said he was expected to survive.
