McAllen police said a 50-year-old man shot four neighbors, including a 16-year-old, after fighting over palm fronds Monday evening. Officers responded to a call about a dispute at a home in the 4700 block of Jasmine Avenue about 8:21 p.m. The caller, a man, told dispatchers that a fight had broken out after his wife cut their palm trees, and that their neighbor threw them all over their front yard.
Police identified the upset neighbor as Jerold Jason Heckman.
The caller told police he didn’t see when their neighbor threw the leaves over the front yard and added that Heckman wasn’t on their property.
Five minutes later, at 8:26 p.m., “the reporting person” said the neighbors were physically fighting, that “males were bleeding” and that the “neighbor shot his father,” police said in a news release Tuesday.
Heckman called McAllen police ten minutes later, saying he wanted “to turn himself in… [that] he was assaulted by three people… and he defended himself,” police said in the release.
Heckman told police that two to three people had punched and beaten him, and he was bleeding.
Soon after, Heckmen put his gun away, stepped out of his home and surrendered to police.
Police determined he shot two men, a teenager and a woman. The men’s ages are 53 and 27, the teenager is a 16-year-old male and the woman is 24.
All victims were transported to hospitals for emergency medical care and are believed to be in stable condition.
Heckman was transported for emergency medical care and remains in custody.
“[Heckman] faces multiple charges yet to be filed,” the report said.
