EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — A gunman opened fire at an elderly care center in Texas on Thursday, killing a 78-year-old man before police shot and killed him, authorities said.
Edinburg Police Chief Quirano Munoz said police received a call about a shooting at the Pride & Joy Adult Day Care Center, a large cement block building in downtown Edinburg near the U.S.-Mexico border, shortly after 9 a.m. The elderly gunman had fatally shot Eugenio de los Santos, of Edinburg, authorities said.
When officers arrived, the gunman, who had not been identified, pointed his weapon at them, Munoz said. After repeated attempts to persuade him to put down the gun, police shot him, Munoz said. He died a short time later at a nearby hospital.
More than 20 people were inside the care center at the time of the shooting, but no one else was wounded, Munoz said.
Few details were immediately available. Munoz said witnesses indicated there had not been an argument before De los Santos was shot, and police were investigating a motive. He said the shooter fired at least once and maybe twice.
After the shooting, elderly clients were loaded into vans near a side entrance and taken away.
Edinburg is about 150 miles south of Corpus Christi.
