Police in Texas say that the man who called 911 while high on drugs and said that people were trying to kill him and that his whole family had been killed shot 30 times in his home, making his family hide. The man was living in the United States illegally, they say.
Police in Ferris found the threat to come from 47-year-old Homero Salinas when they went to a home around 2:40 a.m., according to the officials.
Police say Salinas was hallucinating after using cocaine and drinking booze when he fired 30 rounds, including several shots at the front house where his family lived.
“He was experiencing hallucinations and acted on the delusional belief that he was under attack and that his family had been killed,” a police report said. “His family, unaware that he was the one who made the 911 call or discharged the weapon, was found hiding on the floor inside their home, unharmed.”
When police arrived at the house, they saw Salinas walking down a nearby street and arrested him. Police said he lied when he said he was wearing a ballistic belt.
The police found a number of guns and ammo. People in Salinas’s family were not hurt, and cops said the gunshots only damaged this property. Authorities say they didn’t know that Salinas had called 911 and fired his gun.
The police finally found out that Salinas was a Mexican citizen who was in the U.S. without permission after taking his fingerprints.
“The fact that no one was hurt shows how skilled and disciplined our first responders are,” said Brooks Williams, the manager of Ferris City. “This morning, we are thanking God no one was injured and for His favor over all the officers involved.”
“But we cannot ignore what this situation reveals, someone without legal status, previously flagged by ICE, was still here and still able to access deadly weapons,” he said. “That’s not just a local issue, it’s a systemic failure.”
In 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took care of Salinas and put a detainer on him.
“Our country is based on laws.” Is it not a failure of enforcement when someone who has already had an ICE detainer put in place can stay in the country, get guns, and walk into a neighborhood with a gun? That’s what John DeLeon, Deputy City Manager for Public Safety, said. It has nothing to do with politics. Safety is the most important thing here.
