Tulare County shootings

A shooting spree began in farming country near Exeter, California on December 16, 2018, when a man with a gun began shooting at random people, and continued to do so throughout Tulare County for 24 hours. Three people, including the shooter, died. Seven others were injured.

Tulare County shootings
LocationTulare County, California, United States
DateDecember 16, 2018
Attack type
Shooting spree
WeaponFirearm
Deaths3 (including the perpetrator)
Injured7
PerpetratorGustavo Garcia

The case attracted national attention in the U.S. because the shooter was a convicted felon who had served time in American prisons and had reentered the country illegally for a third time, following deportations in 2004 and 2014. The shooting reignited debate over California Sanctuary Law SB54 because the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested the Tulare County sheriff's office to hold him in detention, but the Sheriff was unable to do so under the California Sanctuary Law. The shooting spree began shortly after the shooter was released.

Shootings

Gustavo Garcia, (36) an illegal immigrant, began with a shooting of random victims in an orchard, and continued with a robbery at a convenience store, and more shootings, and a carjacking, ending with a wrong-way police chase on a highway.[1][2] During the spree he shot a woman seated in her car in the parking lot of a Motel 6 in Tulare, shot up a Shell gasoline station in Pixley, shot and killed a person standing outside a gas station in Visalia, and, at around 3 a.m. on the morning of Monday the 17th, was reported to police for standing in his ex-girlfriend's backyard, yelling threats as he shot at her house.[3][4] He then disappeared before police arrived.[3]

Garcia was next spotted by a Tulare County Sheriff's deputy in a gray Honda SUV on a flat county road outside the city. The deputy attempted to stop the SUV, but Garcia shot the patrol car. He then fled into an orchard, where he brandished his gun at three farmworkers, and stole their GMC truck. He drove south in the northbound lanes of Highway 65 at high speed, smashing into multiple cars at speeds of more than 100 mph. Finally crashing the vehicle, the perpetrator was pronounced dead at the scene at around 7 o'clock on Monday morning.[3] Before the spree ended, three people, including the shooter, were dead, and seven others were hospitalized with injuries.[5][4][6]

Garcia had been arrested for being under the influence two days before he went on his crime spree, but was released because California police are not allowed to hold illegal aliens arrested for misdemeanors in order to turn them over to federal ICE agents for deportation.[7] According to Tulare police, Garcia stole the ammunition he used in the shooting from a Walmart store which had not secured the ammunition properly.[7][8]

Following Garcia's arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE,) notified local police that he had already been deported twice, in 2004 and 2014.[7] Garcia Garcia served 2 years in prison for a 2013 armed robbery, and another 27 months in prison for illegally reentering the country, before he was deported for the second time in 2014.[7] ICE issued an immigration hold against Garcia following his arrest, but the hold was not honored.[7][1]

Tulare County's Board of Supervisors had adopted a resolution opposing California's "Sanctuary State" law in May 2018, but the resolution did not alter the state law's prohibition of local police holding illegal aliens charged with misdemeanors for deportation by ICE.[7]

Perpetrator

Garcia Ruiz, a.k.a. "Junior", was an illegal immigrant who first arrived in the United States in 1992 as a minor. In 2002, he was accused of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy in Reedley, California; that same year, he was accused of armed robbery and possession of a firearm in Fresno, California.[9] He was sentenced to one year in jail and three years' probation[10] or to two years in prison;[11] sources differ. He was deported to Mexico.[12] Having returned to the United States illegally, he went on to spend 27 months in prison and was deported for a second time in 2014.[13] García was arrested on a misdemeanor charge days before the shooting spree, but released under the provisions of the new California Sanctuary Law SB54.[3]

See also

References
  1. Norman, Greg (December 20, 2014). "California cops 'frustrated' with sanctuary laws stopping them from working with ICE over twice-deported criminal". Fox News. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. "Man dies in high-speed crash following deadly California rampage". New York Post. AP. December 18, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. Farzan, Antonia Noori (December 20, 2018). "After a shooting suspect's 'reign of terror,' a California sheriff blames the state's sanctuary law". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  4. Murdock, Deroy (January 2, 2019). "Democrats are for border security -- Unless it secures the border". Fox News. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  5. Fowler, Jack (January 9, 2019). "24 Hours in the Life of the Central Valley". National Review. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  6. Gados, Ryan (December 18, 2018). "California man, previously deported in 2014, goes on 24-hour 'reign of terror' before dying in police chase". Fox News. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  7. Yeager, Joshua (December 19, 2018). "ICE hold meant nothing in Visalia killer's case, which could have kept him in jail". Visalia Times. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  8. Hoggard, Corin (June 3, 2020). "Lawsuit: Walmart deserves some blame for deadly crime spree in South Valley". KFSN Television. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  9. Kolliner, Kimberly (December 20, 2018). "ICE: Man arrested in deadly Tulare County, California rampage was deported twice before". WBMA-LD ABC 33 40. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  10. George, Carmen (December 19, 2018). "Tulare County sheriff after rampage: Laws should be changed to better communicate with ICE". Fresno Bee. Retrieved January 23, 2019. Garcia-Ruiz has a known criminal past. The sheriff's office said he received a one-year jail sentence and 36 months probation in 2003, after facing criminal charges in 2002, including armed robbery in Fresno, and assault with a deadly weapon in Reedley.
  11. "Tulare County Sheriff Blames CA Sanctuary Laws To Prevent "Reign of Terror"". KMJ (AM). December 19, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019. he was convicted for Carrying a Loaded Firearm in a Public Place in 2003 – where was sentenced to two years in prison
  12. Kolliner, Kimberly (December 19, 2018). "ICE: Man responsible for terror in Tulare was deported twice before". KMPH-TV. Retrieved January 23, 2019. He was sent to Mexico, then came back illegally
  13. "After a shooting suspect's 'reign of terror,' a California sheriff blames the state's sanctuary law". The Mercury News. December 20, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019. Garcia, 36, had been removed from the U.S. twice, first in 2004 and then again 2014, ICE officials said in a statement sent to local media outlets on Wednesday. Before his second deportation, he had spent 27 months in federal prison
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