Fresno Police released new details Monday in a triple murder-suicide that left four people dead and another man critically injured.
The shootings happened Sunday morning at the Silver Lake Apartments near Belmont and Clovis Avenue.
Police say Aide Mendez, 23, shot what's described as her common law husband, 33-year-old Eduardo Lopez. She also shot the couple's two young children, 3-year-old Isaiah Echeverria and 17-month-old Aliyah Echeverria, and a cousin, 27-year-old Paul Medina, before turning the gun on herself, police said. Lopez survived the shooting but remained in the hospital on Monday afternoon with critical injuries, police added.
Police say Mendez shot Lopez in the throat during an argument. The couple's two young children were shot in the bath tub, they added.
When Lopez ran to a neighbor's apartment for help after he had been shot, Mendez stabbed him outside with a kitchen knife, police said. The neighbor was one of several people who called 9-1-1, they added.
"He looked through the peep hole and observed a woman, later identified as Aide Mendez, outside his apartment stabbing Lopez with what appeared to be a knife," said Fresno Deputy Police Chief Keith Foster.
After stabbing Lopez, police say Mendez went back into the apartment and shot herself inside the bathroom. Mendez, Medina, and Isaiah Echeverria were all pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Aliyah Echeverria was pronounced dead at the hospital, they added. All of the victims had been shot at least once, police said.
During their investigation, police seized a considerable amount of evidence from the apartment including a scale, about $8,000 in cash, and three handguns. Two of the guns were used during the shootings and one of them appeared to be inoperable, police said. Police also found an iPad2 inside the apartment that contained a video recording that showed Mendez and Medina smoking what appeared to be methamphetamine, they said.
Neighbor Sophia Fierro said she talked to Mendez the night before the shootings took place. Everything seemed ordinary, she told CBS47.
"It's terrible. I don't know what to think because the way I knew her she could never do anything like that. She loved kids and she would never hurt her kids. It's hard," Fierro said.
Police say they had been called out to the apartment several times over the past two years, but there were no indications that anyone had suffered injuries due to domestic violence. It did not appear there was any history of violence against the couple's children either, police added.
Medina had been living with the couple in the apartment for about six months, police said.
A 7-year-old girl, whose mother was friends with Mendez, had been staying overnight in the apartment and escaped unharmed, police said. Police say she witnessed at least one of the shootings.
Lopez and Mendez had another young daughter who died from a medical condition in 2008, police said.
The shootings happened Sunday morning at the Silver Lake Apartments near Belmont and Clovis Avenue.
Police say Aide Mendez, 23, shot what's described as her common law husband, 33-year-old Eduardo Lopez. She also shot the couple's two young children, 3-year-old Isaiah Echeverria and 17-month-old Aliyah Echeverria, and a cousin, 27-year-old Paul Medina, before turning the gun on herself, police said. Lopez survived the shooting but remained in the hospital on Monday afternoon with critical injuries, police added.
Police say Mendez shot Lopez in the throat during an argument. The couple's two young children were shot in the bath tub, they added.
When Lopez ran to a neighbor's apartment for help after he had been shot, Mendez stabbed him outside with a kitchen knife, police said. The neighbor was one of several people who called 9-1-1, they added.
"He looked through the peep hole and observed a woman, later identified as Aide Mendez, outside his apartment stabbing Lopez with what appeared to be a knife," said Fresno Deputy Police Chief Keith Foster.
After stabbing Lopez, police say Mendez went back into the apartment and shot herself inside the bathroom. Mendez, Medina, and Isaiah Echeverria were all pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Aliyah Echeverria was pronounced dead at the hospital, they added. All of the victims had been shot at least once, police said.
During their investigation, police seized a considerable amount of evidence from the apartment including a scale, about $8,000 in cash, and three handguns. Two of the guns were used during the shootings and one of them appeared to be inoperable, police said. Police also found an iPad2 inside the apartment that contained a video recording that showed Mendez and Medina smoking what appeared to be methamphetamine, they said.
Neighbor Sophia Fierro said she talked to Mendez the night before the shootings took place. Everything seemed ordinary, she told CBS47.
"It's terrible. I don't know what to think because the way I knew her she could never do anything like that. She loved kids and she would never hurt her kids. It's hard," Fierro said.
Police say they had been called out to the apartment several times over the past two years, but there were no indications that anyone had suffered injuries due to domestic violence. It did not appear there was any history of violence against the couple's children either, police added.
Medina had been living with the couple in the apartment for about six months, police said.
A 7-year-old girl, whose mother was friends with Mendez, had been staying overnight in the apartment and escaped unharmed, police said. Police say she witnessed at least one of the shootings.
Lopez and Mendez had another young daughter who died from a medical condition in 2008, police said.