DALLAS — An argument at a toddler's birthday party in South Texas escalated into a shooting that left four men dead and a fifth man wounded, authorities said Sunday. The shooting happened at a child's first birthday party Saturday afternoon in Taft, 12 miles north of Corpus Christi, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Sgt. Nathan Brandley said those involved were distant relatives. Authorities did not say what the men were arguing about. A 20-year-old man was in custody Sunday, Brandley said. The man's 37-year-old father was also a suspect, but he had not yet been arrested, Brandley said. "There was a lot of people who witnessed this happen," Brandley said. "Still interviewing eye-witnesses and everybody that was there at the party, trying to piece all the pieces of the puzzle together." He identified those killed as 62-year-old Juan Espinoza Sr.; 20-year-old Juan Sandoval III; 22-year-old Jeremy Sandoval; and 25-year-old Nicky Sandoval. He said the three younger men are grandsons to Juan Espinoza Sr. The wounded man, 43-year-old Juan Espinoza Jr., was airlifted to a Corpus Christi hospital. Brandley said he's expected to survive. Officials are hoping to release more information on the case later Sunday evening, CBS Dallas/Fort Worth reports. "Once we get some warrants processed on the people we are looking for then we can get some information out to the public," Brandley said.<doc-sep>Parent of shooting victim: Not one more Kids learn what to do if gunman comes to school TINLEY PARK, IL - OCTOBER 18: Pistols are offered for sale at Freddie Bear Sports on October 18, 2012 in Tinley Park, Illinois. Facing a $267.5 million fiscal 2013 budget gap, Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago and suburbs, has proposed a tax of 5 cents per bullet and $25 on each firearm sold at gun and sporting goods stores in the county. Fred Lutger, who has owned Freddie Bear Sports for 35 years, is concerned with the impact the tax will have on his store which is located about 2 miles inside the Cook County line. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (CNN) — Authorities in Texas have arrested one man and are searching for his father in the fatal shooting of four people – a 62-year-old man and his three grandsons in their 20s – at a toddler’s birthday party, Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Police responded to reports of a shooting at a 1-year-old’s birthday party in Taft, north of Corpus Christi, and arrived around 5:15 p.m. Saturday to find four men dead in the back yard of a house, Brandley said. Witnesses told investigators the shooting began with “an argument over something real small and it escalated real quickly to where guns were involved,” Brandley said. Children attending the party were mostly inside the house, he said. One handgun was involved, he said. Those killed were identified as Juan Espinoza Sr., 62; and his grandsons Juan Sandoval III, 20; Jeremy Sandoval, 22; and Nicky Sandoval, 25. All were from Taft. Juan Espinoza Jr., 43, the elder man’s son and father to the three younger men, was airlifted to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Brandley said. He is critical condition but is expected to survive, Brandley said. Brandley identified the suspects as Ronnie Rodriguez Jr., 20, who is in custody, and his father Ronnie Rodriguez Sr., 37, who is still at large. KRIS Four people were fatally shot at this house in Taft, Texas. The younger Rodriguez was arrested at his home in Taft and is now being held in the San Patricio County jail, Brandley said. He said no charges have been filed yet, and he didn’t know if Ronnie Rodriguez Jr. had a lawyer. Belinda Espinoza, the daughter of Juan Espinoza Sr., said her family grew up with the suspects and knew them well. She was not at the house when the shooting occurred. She said her father was a farmer and a family man. “He did everything he could for us,”she told CNN. “He was happily married to his first and only love, my mother, Eulalia Sandoval.” She said of her brother, Juan Espinoza Jr., “would give the shirt off his back for others and his children. He always opened his home to anyone.” Her three nephews were all good men, she said, and Jeremy Sandoval leaves behind a young son and wife. Taft is a town of about 3,000 people. CNN’s Amanda Jackson and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.<doc-sep>An apparent argument at a one-year-old’s birthday party led to a shooting that killed four men and injured another. It seems two families who were at the party had an argument and that escalated into gunfire. Although there were multiple witnesses, police are still trying ot figure out what happened exactly in Taft, a small town north of Corpus Christi with a population of around 3,000 people. “Four adult males were found dead on scene,” Sgt. Nathan Brandley, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said of the shooting that took place Saturday afternoon. “The fifth male was HALO-Flighted to Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline.” The Texas Rangers are leading the investigation, according to the Corpus Christi Caller Times. Advertisement Sgt. Nathan Brandley, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, provides details on the fatal shooting in Taft. Via @callerdotcom pic.twitter.com/ZP0M0wosLH — Meagan Falcon (@meaganfalcon) October 14, 2018<doc-sep>
TAFT — A 20-year-old man who authorities believe is connected to a South Texas shooting that left four dead and one wounded is free on bail. Ronnie Rodriguez Jr. was arrested for suspicion of deadly conduct discharging a firearm after a shooting at a 1-year-old's birthday party during the weekend. The shooting left four relatives dead in the 500 block of Wilburn Street in Taft on Saturday about 5:15 p.m. The Texas Department of Public Safety's Texas Rangers are the lead investigating agency, and San Patricio County Sheriff's Office officials are assisting. More:UPDATE: Arrest made in Taft shooting that left 4 dead More:Texas DPS offers increased reward for information on missing person case Authorities believe there was an altercation between two families at the party. The altercation escalated, leading to the shootings, said Sgt. Nathan Brandley, a spokesman for DPS. San Patricio County jail officials said Rodriguez's bail was set at $50,000. He posted it Sunday. Law enforcement officers are still searching for another man they suspect of being connected to the shootings. That man, 37-year-old Ronnie Rodriguez Sr., was still at large Monday morning. The victims were identified as Juan Espinoza Sr., 62; Juan Sandoval III, 20; Jeremy Sandoval, 22; and Nicky Sandoval, 25. The Sandovals were Espinoza's grandsons, while his son — Juan Espinoza Jr., 43 — was listed in critical, but stable, condition at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial. Juan Espinoza Jr. is expected to survive his injuries, Brandley said. More:Christopher Gonzalez takes plea deal in Breanna Wood's killing, gets 10 years More:These are the people vying to become the next Nueces County Sheriff after Jim Kaelin Wilburn Street is in the southwest region of Taft, just at the edge of town. The wooden home is across an open field of grass. Taft is about 20 miles north of Corpus Christi. Anyone with information about Ronnie Rodriguez Sr. or about the fatal shootings should contact the San Patricio County Sheriff's Office at 361-364-9600. Staff writers Tim Acosta and Meagan Falcon contributed to this report.