atxrocker
06-02-2006, 10:44 AM
Assault rifles turned on family during robbery
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (CNN) -- Police were hunting suspects Friday in the slayings of seven extended family members, including three children, gunned down with assault rifles in a crime authorities called Indianapolis' worst in decades.
Authorities have identified one suspect, 28-year-old Desmond Turner, and said they believe there is at least one more.
"He'd gone there to rob the home and decided while he was there to execute everybody at the same time, unfortunately," Sgt. Matthew Mount, a police spokesman, told The Associated Press.
Witnesses told police they saw as many as three or four men running from the back of the home, AP reported.
Police appealed to anyone who might have known the victims or the suspect to contact them.
"This incident has shocked our police department and shocked our city," said Indianapolis Police Chief Michael Spears. "We do not have these kinds of crimes." (Watch details of a crime that may be the worst-ever in Indianapolis -- 1:18)
"We haven't seen anything like this in Indianapolis in recent memory," Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell told AP. "The I.P.D.[Indianapolis Police Department] folks are saying you have to go back 20, 30 years to find anything like this."
The victims, found by officers responding to a call of shots fired about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, included four adults and three children, all Hispanic.
Police identified the adult victims as Emma Valdez, 46; her husband, Alberto Covarrubias, 56; Flora Albarran, 22, Valdez's daughter; and Magno Albarran, 29, Flora's husband. The children were identified as Luis Albarran, 5, Flora Albarran's son; Alberto Covarrubias, 11, and David Covarrubias, 8.
The children were found shot to death in the same bed, Deputy Police Chief Tim Foley said. He said police do not know if the children were sleeping there or hiding.
"It was a home invasion ... everyone in the residence was dead," Foley said, displaying pictures of some of the victims.
All the victims appeared to have been shot with assault rifles, he said, and shell casings were found at the scene.
The home was not a "trouble spot," Foley said. Police had only been called there once in recent history, on an alarm check. He said police do not think the killings were gang-related.
Neighbors said the area had declined in recent years and that drug crimes and muggings had become common, according to an AP report.
A police news release gave this account of the night's events, according to AP:
Flora Albarran had been running errands with a friend before stopping at the house to pick up her son, Luis, about 10 p.m. The boy had spent the evening with his grandmother, Emma Valdez, and other relatives.
When Albarran walked into the home, her friend, who was waiting in the car, saw a light come on and heard Albarran shout: "Don't do that! My child!"
She yelled to her friend not to come in the house. That's when the friend heard gunshots inside and Albarran screaming.
A man holding a long gun stepped on the porch, and the shootings continued inside, the friend told police.
Earlier, police spokesman Sgt. Steve Staletovich said officers on the scene "found a young woman crying that her mother had been shot."
The gunman or gunmen are thought to have entered the home from the front and left the same way, Foley said. Police do not believe they were injured.
The victims were from Mexico but were believed to have been in the United States for at least 10 years, Mount said.
"I didn't know that they were even arguing with anybody," Dodson said. "They go to work every day. They're good people. I just -- I don't see it."
Turner, of Indianapolis, has an extensive criminal history, including convictions for firearm and drug offenses, as well as resisting law enforcement, Mount said. He served about two years in prison for a 1997 conviction and two more for a 2001 conviction.
Authorities believe Turner is still in the area. "We're hoping he's probably lying low right now," Foley said.
Asked if police consider Turner armed and dangerous, Foley said, "Anyone who has killed seven human beings, I consider dangerous."
Turner is believed to have grown up in the same neighborhood where the killings took place, according to CNN affiliate WXIN.
Police described him as about 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with hazel eyes, a beard with long sideburns and gold teeth.
Spears described Turner as "a very desperate person," and said, "Someone knows where this man is, and we want to know."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/02/indianapolis.killings/index.html
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (CNN) -- Police were hunting suspects Friday in the slayings of seven extended family members, including three children, gunned down with assault rifles in a crime authorities called Indianapolis' worst in decades.
Authorities have identified one suspect, 28-year-old Desmond Turner, and said they believe there is at least one more.
"He'd gone there to rob the home and decided while he was there to execute everybody at the same time, unfortunately," Sgt. Matthew Mount, a police spokesman, told The Associated Press.
Witnesses told police they saw as many as three or four men running from the back of the home, AP reported.
Police appealed to anyone who might have known the victims or the suspect to contact them.
"This incident has shocked our police department and shocked our city," said Indianapolis Police Chief Michael Spears. "We do not have these kinds of crimes." (Watch details of a crime that may be the worst-ever in Indianapolis -- 1:18)
"We haven't seen anything like this in Indianapolis in recent memory," Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell told AP. "The I.P.D.[Indianapolis Police Department] folks are saying you have to go back 20, 30 years to find anything like this."
The victims, found by officers responding to a call of shots fired about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, included four adults and three children, all Hispanic.
Police identified the adult victims as Emma Valdez, 46; her husband, Alberto Covarrubias, 56; Flora Albarran, 22, Valdez's daughter; and Magno Albarran, 29, Flora's husband. The children were identified as Luis Albarran, 5, Flora Albarran's son; Alberto Covarrubias, 11, and David Covarrubias, 8.
The children were found shot to death in the same bed, Deputy Police Chief Tim Foley said. He said police do not know if the children were sleeping there or hiding.
"It was a home invasion ... everyone in the residence was dead," Foley said, displaying pictures of some of the victims.
All the victims appeared to have been shot with assault rifles, he said, and shell casings were found at the scene.
The home was not a "trouble spot," Foley said. Police had only been called there once in recent history, on an alarm check. He said police do not think the killings were gang-related.
Neighbors said the area had declined in recent years and that drug crimes and muggings had become common, according to an AP report.
A police news release gave this account of the night's events, according to AP:
Flora Albarran had been running errands with a friend before stopping at the house to pick up her son, Luis, about 10 p.m. The boy had spent the evening with his grandmother, Emma Valdez, and other relatives.
When Albarran walked into the home, her friend, who was waiting in the car, saw a light come on and heard Albarran shout: "Don't do that! My child!"
She yelled to her friend not to come in the house. That's when the friend heard gunshots inside and Albarran screaming.
A man holding a long gun stepped on the porch, and the shootings continued inside, the friend told police.
Earlier, police spokesman Sgt. Steve Staletovich said officers on the scene "found a young woman crying that her mother had been shot."
The gunman or gunmen are thought to have entered the home from the front and left the same way, Foley said. Police do not believe they were injured.
The victims were from Mexico but were believed to have been in the United States for at least 10 years, Mount said.
"I didn't know that they were even arguing with anybody," Dodson said. "They go to work every day. They're good people. I just -- I don't see it."
Turner, of Indianapolis, has an extensive criminal history, including convictions for firearm and drug offenses, as well as resisting law enforcement, Mount said. He served about two years in prison for a 1997 conviction and two more for a 2001 conviction.
Authorities believe Turner is still in the area. "We're hoping he's probably lying low right now," Foley said.
Asked if police consider Turner armed and dangerous, Foley said, "Anyone who has killed seven human beings, I consider dangerous."
Turner is believed to have grown up in the same neighborhood where the killings took place, according to CNN affiliate WXIN.
Police described him as about 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with hazel eyes, a beard with long sideburns and gold teeth.
Spears described Turner as "a very desperate person," and said, "Someone knows where this man is, and we want to know."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/02/indianapolis.killings/index.html