Former Texas police officer accused of killing 3 in Mexico, fleeing toward U.S. with son
A former Texas police officer has been jailed in northern Mexico after killing three members of his former partner’s family, shooting her in the head and fleeing toward the U.S. border with their 3-year-old son, according to local authorities. The child was rescued unharmed.
Chad Eberle, a 35-year-old U.S. citizen, was intercepted Tuesday night in Piedras Negras, directly across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, as he prepared to cross into the United States.
The shooting happened earlier that day at a home in Saltillo, the capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila, during a dispute involving custody of the child.
Chad allegedly went to the home to take his son to the United States. After an argument, he pulled out a gun and opened fire on the people inside, according to El País, citing local authorities.
His former partner’s mother, Ana Laura de Leon Morin, 44; her sister, Laura Mora, 23; and her mother’s partner, Emanuel Montero Gomez, 44, were killed.
Chad’s former partner, 26-year-old Litzy Mora, was shot in the head. She underwent surgery and remains hospitalized in serious condition with an uncertain prognosis.
Chad allegedly took the child after the shooting and fled north in a vehicle with U.S. license plates. Authorities tracked the vehicle using surveillance cameras during an operation involving state security forces, the Mexican military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
He was stopped between 9 and 10 p.m. near the border crossing in Piedras Negras. The boy was found unharmed and placed in the care of Coahuila’s child protection agency.
Authorities said Chad was subject to a restraining order in the United States over alleged domestic violence. The order prohibited him from contacting Mora and their son and from possessing firearms.
Chad previously served as a police officer in Lockney, a small city in West Texas, and was also identified as a former U.S. Marine and military veteran. Investigators believe he had been in Coahuila for several days before the attack.
Mexican prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant accusing Chad of femicide and aggravated homicide. He was transported back to Saltillo and booked into the city’s men’s prison at 9:59 p.m. Wednesday.
The child was also returned to Saltillo under the supervision of the child protection agency and a relative. Coahuila authorities said they are in communication with the U.S. Consular Office.
The post Former Texas police officer accused of killing 3 in Mexico, fleeing toward U.S. with son appeared first on BNO News.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
