SAN BENITO — Authorities confirmed a double murder and suicide were discovered early Tuesday morning on the outskirts of San Benito.
Victims were identified as 74-year-old Maria Alaniz Villarreal and 41-year-old Crystal Villarreal, who were mother and daughter, according to the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities identified the suspected shooter as 83-year-old Jesus Villarreal, who took his own life, according to authorities.
He was the husband and father of the victims, authorities said.
“We believe he ended the life of his daughter and wife and then went outside and ended his own life,” said Capt. Javier Reyna of the sheriff’s department.
“We are still gathering information, but it appears to be a double homicide and suicide. There is nobody at large,” he said.
According to Reyna, the sheriff’s department responded to a neighbor’s call at around 7:50 a.m. related to a body found lying motionless by the driveway at 1675 Calle Rancho Grande in La Paloma.
“Once deputies arrived, they made their way to the residence where they found an older man with a gunshot wound to the head, and he had a handgun lying next to his hand. He was already deceased,” Reyna said.
“Officers went inside the house to see if anybody else was inside the home, and the patrol officers encountered two women who had also received a single gunshot and were also deceased,” he said.
The bodies were sent to the morgue for an autopsy, Reyna added.
