Suspected pot robbery gone wrong near Cutler leaves 1 dead, 1 hurt

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- One man is dead and a teenager is injured after a suspected marijuana robbery gone wrong.

It happened around 4 a.m. Thursday on Avenue 400 and Road 104 near the town of Cutler. Four people are now in custody. Two of them are facing charges for growing marijuana illegally, while the other two are facing gang and murder charges.

Tulare County Sheriff's deputies rushed to a home southwest of cutler after a 911 call about shots fired. When they got to the house, they found no one home but evidence left behind of a violent crime.

"There were an AK-47, a shotgun, and some other weapons on the scene, police scanners, a bulletproof vest and there was some blood," said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.

Minutes later, firefighters called deputies saying there were two gunshot victims at the station nearby. Eduardo Tienda, 25, from Parlier died from his injuries. A 16-year-old was shot in the leg and is expected to survive.

The teen and a third person, Jose Luis Tienda, are now facing homicide charges for their friend's killing. Investigators are still determining who fired the gun that killed Tienda, but because their acts led to their friend's death they're being charged for his murder.

"I believe that this was a marijuana robbery that went bad, and far too often do we see this scenario," said Boudreaux.

Boudreaux says the gunshot victims showed up to the house to steal marijuana. Instead, a gun battle ensued between the three and the people who lived at the house. The residents were not injured and talked with deputies after the incident. Investigators say several million dollars' worth of marijuana, including roughly 50 tree-sized plants, were found growing behind the house.

"There is a lot of evidence that still has to be collected, now that's on the narcotics side. There's a tremendous amount of work that has to be done on the homicide case, so we have both sides out there -- our violent crimes homicide unit as well as our narcotics team," said Boudreaux.

All four suspects could make their first court appearances next week.