At least five people including an eight-year-old child were killed by a shooter in Cleveland, Texas after his neighbour asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard as they were trying to sleep, reported authorities on Saturday.
According to CNN, San Jacinto Country Sheriff Greg Capers said that the shooter was shooting a rifle in his yard when he was asked by his neighbour to stop firing as a baby was trying to sleep. This led to the suspect opening fire on the neighbours, Capers said.
He also mentioned that the authorities found the victims on Friday night after they received a harassment report at around 11:30 pm local time. He was quoted by CNN as saying, “The victims, they came over to the fence said, 'Hey, could you mind not shooting out in the yard. We have a young baby that is trying to go sleep.”
Moreover, the suspect who was drinking reportedly responded saying, “I'll do what I want to in my front yard.” Capers said that the doorbell camera at the home of the victims at some point captured the suspect approaching with his rifle. “They were trying to take care of them babies and keep them babies alive,” he added about the victims.
It may be noted that the gun violence culture has become very common in the United States. As per the Gun Violence Archive, at least 174 mass shootings have taken place in the country so far, reported CNN. Mass shooting has been defined in the archive and by CNN as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, excluding the shooter.
Meanwhile, Kris Brown, the president of Brady, a gun violence prevention organization said in a statement, “It's not just at banks, schools, supermarkets, or churches where Americans fear becoming victims of a mass shooting.”
“People in this country are being gunned down with assault weapons in their own homes, and that is the horrifying reality we will continue to live under until our norms and policies change,” she further said.
