JONESBORO - A man who authorities said fatally shot three people and wounded four others before killing himself Saturday was released from a mental health facility four days before the shooting, Jonesboro Police Chief Michael Yates said during a news conference Sunday.
Yates said he didn’t know where Porfiroi S. Hernandez, 40, sought treatment, nor what that treatment was for.
“We may never have a concrete motive for this,” Yates said of the shooting. “He sought help for something.”
Police said Hernandez went to a home on Moore Road in east Jonesboro at 1:14 p.m. Saturday and shot six people, killing Crisanto Islas, 38, and Floza Davila, 13. Police originally reported Saturday that Floza was 12.
Injured were Ayde Davila, 36, and Augusten Hernandez, 43, both listed in critical condition at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, and Anquel Islas, 8, and Brayam Davila, 10. Anquel was in critical condition and Brayam was in stable condition, both at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis.
Yates said Porfiroi Hernandez, who was not related to Augusten Hernandez, then took a car from theMoore Road home to a business on Dalton Farmer Drive where he fatally shot Richardo Lopez, 31. Lopez was working with a remodeling crew Saturday afternoon at Medic One, an ambulance service.
About two hours later, a passer-by spotted a car matching the description of the vehicle that police said Hernandez took from the home. The vehicle was parked in the middle of Craighead County Road 664, about 2 miles from the Moore Road home. Jonesboro police identified the road as CR 642 on Saturday.
A Craighead County sheriff’s deputy found Hernandez inside the car, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Yates said.
Police said Hernandez knew Islas and his family.
“Witnesses at the [Moore Road] house said he came in and started shooting,” Yates said. “Hernandez didn’t say a thing. He just began shooting.”
Police found a .357 Magnum handgun in the car. The weapon is a six-shot revolver. Jonesboro police detectives found spent shell casings at the home, indicating Hernandez reloaded his weapon at least once while shooting, Yates said.
Many of the victims had been shot in the head, the police chief said.
Yates said detectives will work with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine how and where Hernandez obtained a weapon after his release from the mental-health facility.
Detectives said they had difficulty investigating the shooting because several witnesses spoke only Spanish.
“This is an unusually complicated case,” Yates said. “We have multiple crime scenes, and the language barrier has made it difficult.”
He said police used translators during the investigation.
A neighbor who lives across the road from the shooting scene said Sunday that the family that lived in the tan brick home was quiet and respectful.
“They were hardworking people,” Susan Moore said.“The girl [Floza] did a lot of the translating for them when we talked to them. You couldn’t ask for better neighbors.”
On Sunday, several cars remained parked in front of the home, and the front door was partly open. A porch light was on, and a white medical towel lay wadded in the driveway.
Moore’s husband, Steve Moore, said he had locked his keys in his car once and his neighbor helped him. Crisanto Islas took some tools from the body shop he ran next door to his home and opened the car door to retrieve Moore’s keys.
“We’ve lived here for 20 years,” Steve Moore said. “It’s always been quiet. The most noise we’ve ever had before was just up the road when an old guy would go outside and start shooting at his old truck for target practice. He’s moved away.”
He said Islas and his family moved into the home about five years ago.
“They could get a little noisy during parties, like on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “But it never lasted very long.”
The Moores were not at home when the shooting occurred, but Susan Moore said she received a telephone call from a friend about it. She checked Facebook on her cellphone and saw reports of the shooting.
“It was crazy,” she said. “I was looking at pictures on Facebook of police cars and ambulances in my yard.”
Authorities closed a portion of Moore Road just north of Islas’ house until about 10 p.m. Saturday. The Moores said they had to return to their home by driving on C.W. Post Road through Jonesboro’s industrial park before turning onto the southern end of Moore Road.
“This is a good neighborhood,” Steve Moore said. “This doesn’t mean the area is bad. It was an isolated incident.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 05/05/2014