14-year-old boy shot 3 teenagers to death at Garland convenience store, police allege
.jpg "Three men are dead and one is in critical condition after a man opened the front door of a convenience store and began shooting.")
A 14-year-old boy on Sunday night shot dead three teenage customers of a Garland convenience store and critically injured a teenage employee, police said.
The shirtless boy wearing a baseball cap opened the Texaco front door and fired at least 20 rounds from a .40-caliber pistol inside it, Garland Police Department Chief Jeff Bryan said.
The chief said the killings’ motivation was not clear.
“We don’t have an answer to why,” Bryan said.
Two of the victims, who were 16 and 17 years old, arrived together at the store. Another, who was 14, was ordering food for his family when he was slain, Bryan said. The victim who was taken to a hospital worked as a cook at the store. He was 15.
Police identified the victims who died as Xavier Gonzalez, 14, Ivan Noyala, 16, and Rafael Garcia, 17.
Police said that the assailant, whose name they did not release, was in custody Monday afternoon. He arrived about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in a white Dodge pickup truck, got out of the passenger side, opened the door of the store in the 700 block of West Walnut Street, shot the victims and left in the same truck, police said.
Detectives do not know the name of the person who drove the pickup truck in which the shooter arrived and left.
Anyone with information that leads to an arrest was offered a $5,000 reward. Information can be shared with police at 972-485-4840 or anonymously with Garland Crime Stoppers at 972-272-8477.
Staff writer James Hartley contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 7:52 AM.