At about 3:30 AM Monday, 25-year old Raul Lopez exited the HEB in Palmview located at 1840 W. Palma Vista Drive after his overnight shift, grabbed his 9mm handgun from his car and opened fire 15 times outside of the building, killing 48-year old Mario Pulido, and injuring 3 other fellow employees.
An hour later, Lopez called the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department and turned himself in, even drawing a map for police to find where he threw his gun. Palmview Police Chief Christopher Barrera said that Lopez was clearly “paranoid” believing that “everyone was out to get him” and only intended to scare his coworkers who were in the break room at the time of the shooting.
Currently, Lopez is facing a first-degree felony murder charge and three counts of second-degree felony attempted murder and is being held at the Hidalgo County Jail on a $1.9 million bond.
At the time of this writing, there doesn’t seem to be a solid motive other than to “scare his coworkers,” however that is expected to change once the investigation is complete. It’s noteworthy that Lopez had no prior criminal record
I could ask how a potentially (again, we’re not sure yet) schizophrenic or mentally unstable person was able to acquire a gun, but I’ll hold my tongue until the story develops.
