A mass murder in Goshen, CA had all Hispanic victims, some of whom, i.e., the adult males, were involved in drug gangs. It’s being counted as one of California’s mass shootings, but it’s criminal act by an unknown gang, which is a different kind of thing:

A teenage mother and her 10-month-old were gunned down while running from a ‘cartel-style execution’ in central California that left 6 dead, police say, by Aya Elamroussi, CNN, January 19, 2023

A young mother was clutching her 10-month-old son and running for safety when both were gunned down in a horrific attack that left six dead in a small central California community, the sheriff said.

Forensic evidence shows a shooter stood over 16-year-old Alissa Parraz and her son Nycholas and shot both of them in the head, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said Tuesday during a news conference.

“I know for a fact that this young lady was running for her life,” he said of the Monday attack that sent the teen fleeing a home where at least two suspects opened fire in a “cartel-like execution.”

“I’m not saying that this is a cartel, but also be clear that I am not eliminating that possibility,” Boudreaux said. “These people were clearly shot in the head, and they were also shot in places that the shooter would know that quick death would occur. This is also similar to high-ranking gang affiliations and the style of execution that they commit.

“So, we don’t if this is a gang-affiliated shooting, a cartel-affiliation or if the two are combined. But what we can tell you is the manner in which this has occurred is definitely one of the two, if not combined.”

The massacre is one of 33 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which like CNN tallies events in which four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter. As of Wednesday, 17 children age 11 and younger died by gunshots so far this year while 26 suffered injuries, according to the archive.

The killings have shocked the Goshen community, the sheriff said, but he assured residents, “This was not a random act of violence. This was a very specific targeted act of violence. So, I don’t want the community to be scared or worried.”

California authorities are searching for at least two suspects in Monday’s massacre and have offered a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to their arrest. Those with surveillance footage from the place and time of the massacre are asked to share it.

[More]

Gang activity is big business in the area:

Over 7,000 gang members and associates are in Tulare County, sheriff sayshttps://t.co/GkUkH2s7b0

— KSEE24 News (@KSEE24) January 31, 2023

Goshen and Tulare County are part of what the Federal government calls the Central Valley HIDTA—that’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The  Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center has a publication called Central Valley California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2010  which says on page 10 that the area has all kinds of immigrant drug gangs. I’ve highlighted the ethnic identifiers:

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups pose the greatest organizational drug threat in the Central Valley HIDTA. They are the principal illicit drug producers, transporters, and wholesale distributors in the region. Mexican DTOs dominate methamphetamine and outdoor marijuana production operations throughout the area and regularly transport wholesale quantities of ice methamphetamine, marijuana, powder cocaine, and black tar heroin from Mexico into the region for distribution. Mexican DTOs typically focus their efforts on wholesale-level sales and supply small Hispanic, African American, and Asian criminal groups that distribute the drugs at the midlevel and retail level. 

Asian DTOs (typically ethnic Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, and Vietnamese) operate throughout the HIDTA region and are the dominant producers of high-potency indoor-grown marijuana. Asian DTOs also transport wholesale quantities of high-potency marijuana and MDMA, including MDMA combined with BZP (N-benzylpiperazine) and TFMPP (1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine), from Canada into the region. Members of Asian DTOs typically restrict involvement in their drug trafficking operations to individuals of similar race/ethnicity and familial affiliation; however, they sometimes work with other groups, primarily criminal groups within the Indo-Canadian community [This means East-Indians,  probably on Canada’s West Coast, i.e.,  Vancouver], to transport drugs across the U.S.–Canada border. For example, in November 2009, the Fresno Police Department seized 108,000 MDMA tablets, the largest MDMA seizure in the department’s history, from an Indo-Canadian member of a criminal group that had smuggled the drugs from Canada to the Central Valley HIDTA region. 

Street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) distribute illicit drugs at the midlevel and retail level. These gangs are extremely violent as they establish or maintain control of their drug trafficking operations and are involved in other criminal activities, including shootings, carjackings, and armed robberies. Hispanic street gangs, affiliates of Sureños and Norteños gangs, primarily distribute methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. African American street gang members, primarily affiliates of Bloods and Crips, distribute crack cocaine and marijuana in the HIDTA region. Asian street gangs dominate distribution of MDMA and high-potency marijuana at the retail level. Members of OMGs, most notably Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC), distribute powder cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana at the midlevel and retail level.

Things which are unknown at this time: Were the victims Mexicans, other Central Americans, or native-born Californians? Were the killers Mexicans, other Central Americans, native-born Californians, or one of the many other kinds of ethnic drug gangs in the area? That’s the kind of thing the MSM doesn’t like to ask.