The son of a politician from the Dominican Republic was shot and killed outside a gas station in Houston Monday night in what police said they believe was a “targeted” shooting.
Houston Police Department Wednesday identified the man killed as Luis Alfredo Pacheco Rojas, 34 years old, son of Alfredo Pacheco, president of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic. Another 29-year-old man who was wounded by gunfire in the attack had not yet been publicly identified.
The incident began around 7pm on Monday, when Mr Pacheco and three men in a black Cadillac Escalade stopped at a petrol station in south-east Houston, according to the police department.
The four men entered the gas station and immediately returned to the Escalade.
Deputy Chief Adrian Rodriguez of the police department initially said this press conference on Monday that at that point Four more armed men with what police called long guns arrived in two vehicles — a silver Dodge Charger and a silver Mercedes-Benz — and began shooting at the Escalade.
On Tuesday the Police Department clarified in a declaration that only three attackers were involved, two of whom were in the Dodge and another man in the Mercedes.
Mr. Pacheco was shot and later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the Police Department. The other man wounded by gunfire was “conscious and breathing” at the hospital Monday night, Chief Rodriguez said.
“I believe these individuals in the Escalade were targeted,” Chief Rodriguez said Monday.
Investigators are working to determine a possible motive for the shooting, the police department said. Authorities were also looking for the gunmen, who fled the gas station after the shooting. Chief Rodriguez described them as Hispanic men in their 20s and 30s.
Police Headquarters on Tuesday photos released of the armed men from surveillance footage.
In a post abouty, Alfredo Pacheco said his son lived outside the village.
“I sincerely thank friends and colleagues for their solidarity during this difficult time,” he wrote in the post.
Alfredo Pacheco has been working in politics since the 1990s and since 2020 has led the Chamber of Deputies, part of the legislative power of the Dominican Republic. Since 2020 he has also been a member of the National Council of the Judiciary, the body responsible for evaluating and electing judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Superior Electoral Tribunal and the Constitutional Court.
Hogla Enecia Pérez contributed reporting from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
