You choose, we deliver
If you are interested in this story, you might be interested in others from The Journal Gazette. Go to www.journalgazette.net/newsletter and pick the subjects you care most about. We'll deliver your customized daily news report at 3 a.m. Fort Wayne time, right to your email.

News

  • Officer’s shots killed NY student, intruder
    A New York college student being held by an armed home intruder was shot and killed by a Nassau County police officer who had responded to a report of a home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.
  • Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent
    With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units.
  • Baghdad bombing leaves at least 76 dead
    Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months.
Advertisement

3 dead in California Indian reservation shooting

PORTERVILLE, Calif. – A man shot three people to death and wounded another on a California Indian reservation, and was wounded himself several hours later in an exchange of gunfire with sheriff’s deputies as he tried to flee in a vehicle, authorities said Sunday.

The suspect, 31-year-old Hector Celaya, also shot and wounded his two daughters, ages 5 and 8, who were with him in the vehicle when he was apprehended about 2 a.m., officials said. It was unclear exactly when the girls were shot.

A motive for the attacks also wasn’t immediately known.

Authorities apprehended Ceyala about six hours after Tulare County sheriff’s deputies were called, at about 8 p.m. Saturday, to a trailer on the Tule Indian Reservation. Inside, they found the body of a man and a woman; the body of another man was nearby.

Deputies also discovered a wounded male juvenile, whose condition and age were not known.

Deputies found Celaya by tracking his cellphone, and pulled him over in a rural area outside the tiny community of Lindsay around 2 a.m., about 20 miles from the reservation. Celaya fired his weapon, prompting deputies to return fire, sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Douglass said.

She did not say how many shots were fired, but said Celaya fired his gun “multiple times.” Celaya was wounded during the exchange of gunfire, and was being treated for life-threatening injuries, Douglass said.

Celaya also shot his daughters, though when he did so remained under investigation, Douglass said.

One girl suffered life-threatening injuries while the other girl was less seriously hurt.

Celaya is described by authorities as “known to law enforcement, is known to use drugs,” though Douglass could not provide additional details.

The reservation where the initial shooting took place is about 50 miles north of Bakersfield

Advertisement