Two killed minutes apart in separate Tulare shootings

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two people were killed overnight Saturday in Tulare, making it the first and second homicides for the city this year.

"It was pow, pow, pow, pow, pow," said a neighbor.

Six rounds of gunfire is what a neighbor heard near the 1300 block of Tulare Street in the early morning. "Then I turned on the police scanner, and I heard police and everything say it was a confirmed shooting," they explain.

The victim, 25-year-old Steven Williams had just left a convenience store when according to the owner he was shot and killed outside of the Tulare home, just a few feet away from the store he walked out of. "They take their beer and then five minutes go over there shoot, and I go outside and I'd see that guy," the owner said.

Tulare police later arrested Kasmir Bailey who is believed to be connected to the city's first homicide of 2016. But it was not the last because 20 minutes later and less than 5 miles away a second shooting took place on North Lynora Avenue.

Neighbors say the victim, 22-year-old Henry Jacinto was found dead in the back of this driveway. "It's terrible," neighbor Lydia Moran said. "It's very shocking because we've lived here for three years and they are all very friendly."

Police say even though both shootings are not gang related, extra officers will be on duty to patrol the areas where the shootings took place. "When you have two separate homicides in one night, just minutes apart, it's not anything that anybody can predict," Sgt. Andrew Garcia with the Tulare Police Department said. "We are working both cases and we are taking all necessary steps to safety."