The sister of one of the Puerto Rican victims of the shooting in Pennsylvania that left two minors dead lashed out at those responsible for the attack.
The brothers Jesús and Sebastián Pérez-Salomé, 8 and 9 years old, respectively, were playing with some cats in a house in Lebanon when they were hit by bullets on Tuesday. A third victim was identified as Joshua Lugo Pérez, 19, also of Puerto Rican origin.
Tatiana Lugo Pérez, Joshua’s sister, whom the shooters were supposedly looking for, called the attackers insensitive.
“Two people who don’t have a heart or a brain… who think of others and the pain and suffering of others,” he told Telemundo from Puerto Rico.
In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, Felix Muñiz Torres, the minors’ uncle, revealed that, at the time of the incident, the mother was working in a convenience store near the house.
The woman allegedly heard the shots from the scene and ran out to find the tragic scene.
“She is in ‘shock’ and is not able to speak coherently,” the man also described from the island.
The woman’s other son, who is 13 years old, was saved from the attack, since he was at a school event
The motive for the crime has not been established.
Authorities charged Alex Torres Santos, 22, and James Fernández Reyes, 16, with three counts of intentional homicide.
In a press conference Thursday, Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said the suspects also face aggravated assault, conspiracy and weapons charges.
Investigators are looking for a third suspect who would be accused of the same charges.
In the case of Santos, he was under house arrest for another criminal case and was wearing a tracking device on his ankle at the time of the shooting.
The motive for the crime has not been established. However, the authorities are investigating information that indicates that the attackers were looking for Lugo as a consequence of a previous argument. Lugo lived in the same house as the other two victims.
A 33-year-old neighbor who was injured by a stray bullet underwent surgery and remains hospitalized. The expectation is that he recovers satisfactorily.
It is expected that the minors will be transferred to Puerto Rico to be buried once the autopsies on the remains are completed.
The Pérez family moved to the United States in 2019 with the goal of finding better economic and life opportunities.
However, after migrating, tragedies have followed them.
Muñiz Torres revealed that the family lost everything in a fire in the old apartment they lived in, a year after they arrived in the country.