The Latest: Slain couple were fixtures of rodeo community
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Latest on a man suspected of being in the U.S. illegally and accused of killing four people in Nevada over the past few weeks, adding fuel to the immigration debate (all times local):
11:10 a.m.
Two victims of a killing spree in Nevada that has been blamed on a man from El Salvador who authorities say was in the U.S. illegally are being remembered as longstanding members of Reno’s equestrian and rodeo scene.
Former Reno Rodeo Association president Tom Cates says he met Gerald David and his wife Sharon David three decades ago and spent “many miles and many hours together” on horseback with them.
Cates says Gerald David was previously the association’s president and promoted a breast cancer awareness campaign by getting cowboys to show they were “tough enough to wear pink shirts.”
Cates also was a member of the local Elks Lodge when David was the group’s leader.
He says Sharon David was “exuberant, bubbly, loved animals to the hills.”
Cates says the two were also members of a horseback social organization called the Nevada White Hats.
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9:30 a.m.
U.S. immigration authorities say a man suspected of killing four people in Nevada over the last few weeks is from El Salvador and entered the United States illegally.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that 20-year-old Wilbur Martinez-Guzman had no criminal record or history of previous immigration violations.
The agency did not have additional details on his alleged illegal entry to the U.S., including when and where it occurred.
The agency’s public affairs staff is furloughed because of the government shutdown.
President Donald Trump has seized on the killings to bolster his argument for his proposed border wall with Mexico.
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6:45 a.m.
Authorities say a man suspected of being in the U.S. illegally shot and killed four people in Nevada over the past few weeks, adding fuel to the immigration debate.
President Donald Trump has seized on the killings as evidence of the need for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.
It was not clear Tuesday where 20-year-old Wilbur Martinez-Guzman was from or how he came to the U.S.
He has been jailed in Carson City since Saturday on possession of stolen property, burglary and immigration charges.
Authorities have said they expect to file murder charges against him in the shooting deaths of an elderly Reno couple and two women in a nearby town.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said that federal immigration authorities told his office Martinez-Guzman was in the country illegally.
