Thread: TX - 3 charged after ambush at La Blanca cockfight that left 11 shot, 3 dead

3 charged after ambush at La Blanca cockfight that left 11 shot, 3 dead


April 21, 2012 12:21 AM

EDINBURG — Three people — including a married couple — face felony charges after masked gunmen ambushed a cockfight near La Blanca early Thursday morning.

Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Homer Jasso formally charged Leticia Leandro, 52, Heriberto Leandro, 51, and Humberto Blanco, 37, with cockfighting and engaging in organized criminal activity at an arraignment Friday afternoon at the county jail. Bond was set at $1 million each.

Sheriff's deputies have not arrested any of the gunmen who opened fire "indiscriminately" at the cockfight shortly after midnight Thursday.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said the shooters targeted two brothers — Edinburg residents Ramiro and Juan Santos Macias Garcia — amid the volley of rounds fired into the crowd of about 200 spectators at the cockfight.

Also slain in the attack was McAllen resident Arturo Buentello Garza, 42, believed to be an innocent bystander attending the cockfight.
"He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and caught the barrage of bullets," Treviño said.

Eight other men were shot in the attack, with five victims still hospitalized on Friday.

A recording of the 9-1-1 calls obtained by The Associated Press details the pandemonium that ensued when two to four masked gunmen opened fire at a cockfight near Edcouch, about 15 miles northeast of McAllen, where as many as 200 people were present.

"My husband is shot and he has a cellphone, but he says he was dying," said a woman on the 9-1-1 tape who had received a call from her wounded husband. "He says he doesn’t know exactly where he’s at. I think he ran."

The man was critically wounded, but survived.

Another woman called as she was escaping the shooting. She tried to explain the location.

"We had to take off, ma’am," she told the dispatcher. "We have kids. There was a machine gun. There’s everything, ma’am. There’s a shootout."

Blanco is accused of operating an elaborate cockfighting operation south of Mile 20 North on Jesus Flores Road, a dirt route that cuts through the remote fields of northeast Hidalgo County.

Heriberto Leandro and Leticia Leandro, husband and wife, own the property where the cockfights occurred, Treviño said. They were not present during Thursday’s early morning attack.

The cockfighting operation did not take a share of bets placed on the sparring roosters. Rather, the organizers collected entrance fees and proceeds from concessions sold at the events.

The cockfighting venue featured a metal awning with several palenques — cockfighting rings — bleachers, a rooster weigh-in room, concession stand and tournament brackets that tracked the best birds.

Treviño said much of the evidence was destroyed in the ambush, with hundreds of spectators trampling over the three bodies, bullet casings and other footprints that could have helped build the case.

"This was the crime scene from hell," the sheriff said Friday, echoing a previous description of the scene. "People were trampling over each other, over the dead.

"Why they indiscriminately sprayed the area with bullets, I don’t know."

The sheriff said investigators do not believe the shooters have ties to Mexico. Because they were masked, he said they likely were known to the victims and others attending the cockfight — and were out for revenge against the Garcia brothers, originally from Valle Hermoso, Tamps., after a previous drive-by shooting.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with a hit team coming in from Mexico," the sheriff said. "This is a strictly
local issue."

More suspects are expected to face arrest in the case. Treviño said a pair of men — including a prominent local businessman — with ties to the ring uncovered Thursday and who operate other cockfighting venues across Hidalgo County could be taken into custody next week.
"They are responsible for this," he said.

Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The sheriff said smaller operations have been busted in recent months, but it remains a popular underground — if not violent — pastime across South Texas.

Thursday’s ambush — it remains unclear whether anyone returned fire — near La Blanca was not the first cockfight where the humans resorted to violence, either. Three men were injured when they exchanged gunfire at a 2008 cockfight near Alton.

"It is a magnet for criminality," he said.

Cockfighting is a state jail felony that carries a maximum punishment of two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Combined with engaging in organized criminal activity, the two criminal charges against the three suspects are enhanced to a third-degree felony that has a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, Treviño said.

Misdemeanor charges are expected to be filed against the eight men shot while at the cockfight. State law prohibits visiting a cockfight, as well.

The sheriff lamented Thursday morning’s ambush, saying it may have been prevented, had neighbors reported it to authorities sooner. Neighbors have said the cockfighting operation held events at least once a week for several years.

"We would have acted because it’s against the law," Treviño said.

LIST OF SUSPECTS AND VICTIMS


THE SUSPECTS:
>> Leticia Leandro, 52, charged with cockfighting and engaging in organized criminal activity, both state jail felonies


>> Heriberto Leandro, 51, charged with cockfighting and engaging in organized criminal activity, both state jail felonies


>> Humberto Blanco, 36, charged with cockfighting and engaging in organized criminal activity, both state jail felonies


THE VICTIMS:
>> Ramiro Macias Garcia, 49, of Edinburg, killed in the attack. U.S. permanent resident originally from Valle Hermoso, Tamps.

>> Juan Santos Macias Garcia, 53, of Edinburg, killed in the attack. U.S. permanent resident originally from Valle Hermoso, Tamps.

>> Arturo Buentello Garza, 42, of McAllen, killed in the attack. U.S. Citizen

>> Salvador Morales Jr., 28, of Edcouch. Remains hospitalized in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest. U.S. citizen

>> Jose Solis Chapa, 31, of La Blanca. Suffered gunshot wounds to his legs, released from hospital. Mexican national

>> Daniel Hernandez, 40, of McAllen. Remains hospitalized in stable condition. U.S. citizen

>> Arnoldo Luna, 49, of Edinburg. Remains hospitalized in critical condition with a gunshot that grazed his head. Mexican national

>> Geraldo Castilla, 50, of Elsa. Relased from hospital. U.S. citizen
>> Manuel Sanchez Jr., 52, of Monte Alto. Released from hospital. U.S. citizen

>> Eloid Salazar, 44, of Hargill. Still hospitalized after surgery on a gunshot wound to his hand. Under deputy watch on a fugitive warrant. U.S. citizen

>> Oscar Garza, 57, of Hargill. Remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds to his legs. U.S. citizen

3 charged after cockfighting ambush | ambush, charged, cockfighting - TheMonitor.com