(Reuters) – California police have detained a suspect in a shooting at the Tule River Indian Reservation in which three people were killed and three were wounded, including two young daughters of the suspect, county officials said on Sunday.
Hector Celaya, who lived on the central California reservation, fled the scene of the shooting with his daughters and was shot during a low-speed car chase as authorities attempted to take him into custody, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department said.
The two girls, ages 5 and 8, also suffered gunshot wounds. One of the girls and Celaya were being treated for life-threatening injuries.
“During the preliminary investigation, detectives learned the suspect had shot the children,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The incident began on Saturday night when the Tulare County Sheriff received a 911 call saying shots had been fired on the reservation, which is near Porterville, California.
Officials discovered an man and a woman who had been fatally shot in a trailer, as well as a male youth who was wounded. Another man was found dead in a shed.
Detectives were able to locate Celaya, who was considered armed and dangerous, using data from his cellphone, the sheriff’s office said.
(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Mohammad Zargham for Reuters)
