© The Jonesboro Sun, Rob Holt/AP PhotoPolice officers and crime scene analysts investigate a crime scene in Jonesboro, Ark., Saturday, May 3, 2014.
Jonesboro Police Sgt. Doug Formon identified the shooter as Porfirio Hernandez, 40, who recently had been released from a mental health treatment facility. Formon did not give further details in an email to The Associated Press.
Formon said police responded to a shooting about 1 p.m. Saturday. Chrisanto Islas, 38, and Floza Davila, 12, were killed there and four others were injured. Survivors and witnesses at the house identified Hernandez as the sole gunman and provided a description of him and the vehicle he was driving.
Police said three people are in critical condition in hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee: Augusten Hernandez, 43; Ayde Davila, 36; and Anquel Islas, 8. A 10-year-old boy, Brayam Davila, is in stable condition.
Jonesboro Police Chief Mike Yates said Sunday at a news conference there were several other people in the home who managed to run from the gunfire, television station KAIT reported.
Yates said that all but one of the victims was shot in the head, and Brayam Davila was shot in the hip. Hernandez said nothing as he opened fire and continued shooting through the home, according to witnesses.
Yates said it appears Hernandez had to reload the .357 magnum handgun because of the weapon's six-bullet capacity, KAIT reported.
About 20 minutes after the first shooting, police responded to a second shooting about three miles away, where they found Richardo Lopez, 31, dead. A witness described a vehicle matching the description from the Jonesboro home.
Investigators then received a report that a car matching the description of the shooter's had been located on a rural county road. Deputies discovered Hernandez dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
It wasn't immediately clear how Porfirio Hernandez and the seven victims knew one another.
Source: AP
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