Palmview man shoots home invader
NEAR PALMVIEW — A "Trespassers Will Be Shot" sign stood in the front lawn of a residence busy with Hidalgo County Sheriff’s deputies Monday night.
The owner of the sign, Francisco Cazares, meant it.
Cazares told deputies he was in his Farmosa Avenue home with his wife at about 9:15 p.m. Monday when a group of armed men burst into his house shouting “Police” in Spanish. Cazares shot at the men with his AK-47 assault rifle, hitting one of the intruders.
Cazares grabbed his own gun when he noticed armed and masked men approaching his house on his video surveillance cameras, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said. Trevino said the house showed signs of an “extensive firefight” and at least one injury.
Not long after the incident, an unidentified Hispanic male was dropped off at Mission Regional Medical Center with two gunshot wounds to the abdomen, the sheriff said. Investigators are still trying to determine if that man is connected to the home invasion.
A witness to the firefight followed the suspected home invaders to a residence near the corner of North Inspiration Road and Mile 6 Road in Mission. After searching the mobile home, investigators found ski masks and other “crime paraphernalia” before they spotted a man hiding beneath the home.
Deputies took the man in for questioning.
Investigators found the green Hummer that had been followed and a second vehicle they believe was connected to the home invasion. A woman there told police her son had been using the Hummer, Trevino said, but the man hiding under the mobile home was not her son.
"Our job now is to link what happened (on Farmosa Avenue) to the shooting victim, the man we apprehended and the ski masks and paraphernalia," the sheriff said.
Investigators will try to collect surveillance footage from Mission Regional and stores nearby to see if they can identify the vehicle and driver who reportedly left the shooting victim at the hospital.
Neither the rural Palmview resident nor a few other individuals interviewed by authorities at the scene reported any injuries.
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Elizabeth Findell covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428. Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.
