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Gang members arrested after drive-by shooting near Edinburg
EDINBURG — Two gang members faced felony charges Tuesday after an alleged retaliatory drive-by shooting.
Suspected Tri-City Bombers gang members Jaime Perez, 17, and his girlfriend Mariela Torres, 19, were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon Tuesday.
The couple allegedly drove by the 4100 block of Buck Drive, north of Edinburg, about 9 p.m. Monday and shot at three members the Chicanos, a rival gang, said Hidalgo County Sherriff Lupe Treviño.
The pair allegedly shot at Chicano gang members Luis Ramirez, 28, Johnny Lee Morales, 24, and his brother, 18-year-old Anthony Morales.
Ramirez suffered several gunshot wounds during the attack. He remained at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio on Tuesday with non-life threatening injuries to his face, deputies said.
The victims were outside Morales’ home when Perez allegedly opened fire as Torres drove the vehicle, investigators said.
The suspects told investigators they shot at Morales’ house after a previous drive-by shooting by the victims a couple of weeks ago, Treviño said. Deputies continue to investigate whether that claim is true.
“We’re researching it,” he said. “The search is not being very fruitful so maybe it’s a self-serving justification. Maybe it did not happen and they made it up.”
The sheriff said the victims could also face criminal charges if investigators can connect them to the alleged shooting that triggered Monday night’s attack.
“Just because they were victims in this one, does not absolve them from any culpability in prior drive-bys, if they do exist,” the sheriff said.
The drive-by shooting exposes the threat local gangs have on the community, Treviño added.
“They pose a much greater, deadly threat to the people in Hidalgo County than any Mexican drug cartel,” the sheriff said.
Perez and Torres were formally charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon at an arraignment hearing Tuesday morning at the Hidalgo County Jail.
Bond for Perez, who has a criminal record, was set at $50,000. Torres’ bond was set at $25,000.
Source - http://www.themonitor.com/articles/edinburg-44557-gang-members.html
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