2 Gunmen Slay 5, Wound 1 in Spree at Auto Body Shop

Two gunmen burst into an auto body shop and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing five men and wounding a sixth who hid under a vehicle until the assailants left, police said.

Chief Don Francis said the six victims were all working on an old car Tuesday night inside Medina’s Auto Shop when two men entered, looked around, went back outside, returned with automatic weapons and opened fire.

The chief said no motive was apparent, but his “immediate assumption” is that it was the result of a sour drug deal, although no drugs were recovered at the scene.

“We always tend to look in that direction first (in this type of incident,)” Francis said. “At this point it’s unsubstantiated, but it’s a strong possibility.”

The survivor, Jesse Rocio, said that as far as he knew, drugs were not involved. He said he recognized the two gunmen and had exchanged “dirty looks” with them on the street while walking with the other victims, but did not know their names nor why they would be angry at anyone in the garage.

“One time we had a general argument, but we had no real problem with them,” Rocio said in a telephone interview from the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

Four victims died at the scene and a fifth died at the hospital. Francis said some of the victims were shot in the head.

Rocio, 20, of Pasco was wounded in the side. He managed to hide under a vehicle, then drove to a police station, Francis said.

Francis said automatic weapons, including at least one rifle, were used, and casings littered the floor. He said there were no signs of a struggle.

Police identified the victims as Rafael Magallon, 22, Eliceo Lamas, 20, Juan Garcia, about 20, and Misael Barajas and Francisco Cortez, both 21.