6 people, including 6-month old, dead in California shooting

WASHINGTON

A six-month old baby was among those shot and killed early Monday morning in what law enforcement believes was a targeted series of cartel killings in California.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux told the Los Angeles Times newspaper that he believes the shootings, which took place at around 3:30 am in the central city of Goshen, are "specifically connected to the cartel."

"The level of violence … this was not your run-of-the-mill low-end gang member," he told the Times. The dead reportedly include the baby, its teenager mother, and an elderly woman.

Many of the victims were shot in the head, including the baby, Boudreaux said. Police have not publicly identified the deceased.

Authorities believe the teenage mother, 17, and her child were shot while trying to flee. Police responding to reports of shots fired found the infant in its mother's arms as both laid in a ditch outside their home.

The elderly female victim appears to have been "shot in her sleep," Boudreaux said. The three other victims were all men, one of whom was alive when police came on the scene, but died in a local hospital where he was being treated for his wounds.