Purported gang leader injured in drive-by attack

EDINBURG — Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies continued to search Monday for four men wanted in connection with a weekend attack on a local gang leader.

The suspects — all purported members of the Texas Chicano Brotherhood gang — opened fire on Jose “Killer” Garcia, 36, and his wife just after 11 p.m. Saturday outside the couple’s home near the intersection of “I” Road and Church Street, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

Garcia once held a high-ranking position within the rival Tri-City Bombers gang but is now believed to be the leader of a smaller criminal group known as Brown Pride.

“All four suspects have been identified and warrants for their arrests will be issued in the very near future,” the sheriff said.

Saturday’s incident is at least the fourth drive-by shooting involving suspected Chicano members in a month in Lopezville, a colonia south east of Edinburg.

On Nov. 5, suspected Chicanos killed an 18-year-old member of the rival Sureño gang after a tit-for-tat series of drive-by shootings that erupted over a graffiti dispute.

Investigators believe the four attackers in Saturday’s shooting drove by Garcia’s house at least twice in a dark blue, four-door Jeep and screamed profanities before shooting at him with a 20-gauge shotgun and a .40 caliber pistol.

Garcia was struck once in the chest. His wife sustained a minor pellet wound to her lower lip. Both were treated and released from Edinburg Regional Hospital that same day.

Treviño said Monday that deputies will once again step up action in the community to discourage any retaliation attacks. In the coming days, they plan to sweep the area for gang members with active warrants for their arrest and keep tabs on known criminal suspects.

“That’s definitely an area of concern for us,” he said. “We’re going to do our job. We’re going to do the right thing. But we’re going to treat these guys like we would anyone else.”

Authorities urge anyone with information on this attack to contact Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers at (956) 668-8477.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.