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Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux linked the killings to the
illegal drug trade, saying deputies had conducted a drug-related
search warrant at the same home last week.
"We believe this was a message being sent," Boudreaux told
reporters at the scene. "We believe that this was a targeted
family."
Two suspects remained at large, he said.
Authorities responded early on Monday after multiple shots were
heard. Some victims were found in the street while others were
discovered in the house.
One victim was alive and wounded when authorities arrived but
later died at a hospital, Boudreaux said.
The attacks occurred in Goshen, a farm community of 5,400 people
about midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The bodies of the infant and 17-year-old mother were located in
a ditch outside the home, Boudreaux later told the Los Angeles
Times. Both had gunshot wounds to the head.
Several others were shot in the head, including an elderly
woman. Two women survived by hiding in a trailer on the
property.
"I think it's specifically connected to the cartel. The level of
violence ... this was not your run-of-the-mill low-end gang
member," Boudreaux told the newspaper.
"If (they) are specifically shooting everyone in the head, they
know what they are doing ... (and) they are comfortable with
what they are doing."
The newspaper reported that last week's search warrant resulted
in one arrest and the seizure of guns, marijuana and
methamphetamine.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional reporting
by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif.; Editing by Josie Kao and
Matthew Lewis)
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