‘Deliberate, intentional and horrific.’ Sheriff gives details of the Goshen massacre

Goshen residents have no reason to fear for their lives because of the execution-style massacre of six family members in the rural community, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said Tuesday.

The sheriff spoke at a news conference at sheriff’s headquarters the day after the shootings rocked the unincorporated community of 5,000 tucked between Visalia and Highway 99.

“This was not a random act of violence, this was a very specific targeted act of violence,” he said. “I don’t want the community to be scared or worried.”

“None of this was by accident,” Boudreaux said. “It was deliberate, intentional and horrifiic. ... It was methodical and well-planned out.”

But because it’s a natural reaction for residents to fear for their safety after such an event, patrols have been increased in Goshen, he said.

Search for the killers: Reward, call for video

Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for help in solving the massacre. Boudreaux said he expects the reward by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to go up.

Anyone with information who fears giving their name can call it in or text it anonymously, he said.

Additionally, the sheriff is asking businesses and residents to review any surveillance videos they might have for clues and notify them.

“There are video(s) all over” from industrial businesses and home security systems such as Ring, he said. “It doesn’t matter how far away you were from the scene. Any video evidence that you find suspicious, please contact the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. We want to look at it.”

Investigators are particularly interested in the hours of 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday.

‘Cartel-like executions’

Authorities identified the victims of the execution-style killings of a baby, teen mother, older woman and three others, most of them shot in the head, which happened before 4 a.m. Monday.

The coroner’s office said Eladio Parraz Jr., 52; Marcos Parraz, 19; Jennifer Analla, 49; Rosa Parraz, 72; Elyssa Parraz, 16; and 10-month-old Nycholas Parraz died in the massacre.

(The mother and baby were younger than initially reported at an on-scene news conference held Monday in Goshen.)

All the victims are immediate family, investigators said. The oldest victim, a grandmother, may have been sleeping when she was shot and killed.

The massacre has the hallmarks of “cartel-like executions,” but Boudreaux stressed that investigators are still determining whether it was gang-related or if there is a drug cartel angle.

Investigators are confident the slayings were a targeted operation. But because of how quickly and efficiently the shooter or shooters killed the victims, the slayings might be a drug cartel operation, he said.

“Make no mistake, I’m not saying this is a cartel but also be clear that I am not eliminating that possibility,’’ Boudreaux said. It could also be a “high-level gang” shooting, he said, and it’s possible the two are combined.

Cartels are in the Central Valley and in Tulare County, he said, but no specific cartel has been identified.

“These people were not only shot in the head, they were shot in places where the shooter would know that a quick death would occur,” he said.

Deputies were called at 3:38 a.m Monday to a home on Harvest Avenue near Road 68, in a neighborhood west of the railroad tracks that bisect Goshen, and east of Highway 99.

Neighbors reported hearing so much gunfire they told authorities they believed it was an active-shooter incident, Boudreaux said.

When deputies arrived seven minutes later, two victims were found dead in the street, while others were found in the home and a trailer, he said.

The suspects were gone.

Teen mother tried to hide cradling her baby

The teen mother was found in a nearby ditch down the street from the home, cradling her baby.

Boudreaux said investigators believe the teen fled and was hiding when a gunman stood over her and fired into her head. The baby was also shot in the head.

The sheriff called it one of the worst crimes he has seen in his 36-year law enforcement career, and said it has an element not seen in other multiple-homicide cases.

“What I have not seen is the very clear assassination-style murder of a teenage mother to the head,” he said. Also, it’s the first time he’s seen a 10-month-old baby murdered “for no reason.”

A third victim was found in the doorway of the home, and three others were found dead at multiple places on the property.

Three others at home escaped unharmed

It was later learned that the 911 came from the surviving victims who hid, Boudreaux said.

“They did not receive any injuries from this shooting,” he said.

Investigators believe two people committed the massacre, and speculate that a third person was in a getaway car. No names of suspects were made public at the news conference.

The three people who went into hiding escaped injury, and investigators plan to interview them for information, he said.

They have refused offers of protection, Boudreaux said.

One person hid inside the home and could hear the gunfire up and down a hallway, he said.

“He was in such a state of fear that all he could do was hold the door, hoping he was not the next victim,” Boudreaux said. “He put his feet up against the door and laid as flat as he could hoping no one would come in. He actually described them rattling the door knob to see if they could get in, and then they moved on.”

Two other people hid in a trailer, where one of the victims was shot in the threshold of the trailer door, he said.

History of gangs and drugs but also innocent victims

Although some of the victims had a history of involvement in gangs and illegal drugs, “not all the people in this home are gang members, and not all these people in the home are drug dealers,” Boudreaux said. “The 16-year-old female is an innocent victim and the grandmother inside appears to be an innocent victim,” and the baby was innocent, he said.

Deputies are familiar with the home and conducted a parole compliance check on Jan. 3, finding shell casings on the ground outside, the sheriff said.

But when the deputies asked to go inside, the occupants refused, so deputies obtained a search warrant, Boudreaux said.

Marijuana, methamphetamine and automatic weapons had been found at the property in other visits, he said.

After getting the warrant, deputies found Eladio Parraz, a felon on parole, illegally in possession of ammunition, a firearm, a short-barreled rifle, an assault weapon, a loaded weapon, and a controlled substance, the sheriff said.

“He, unfortunately, was able to bail out four days later,” Boudreaux said.

However, it does not appear Eladio Parraz was the initial intended target of the massacre, Boudreaux said in response to a question.

Investigators believe they know why the slayings took place but are not at liberty to announce it, he said.

It’s considered likely the attackers fled the area.

“I can tell you that some of our investigations have already led outside the county,” he said.

Autopsies on the bodies of the six victims started Tuesday and will likely be done by Friday, he said.

“It’s shocking for the nation,” Boudreaux said. “My hopes are we capture them, I have high hopes, I’m very confident we will result in arrests. The timeline on that no one can tell.”