SELMA, Calif. (KMPH) -
Was a failing trucking business to blame for a Selma man shooting his family and then himself? One of his drivers believes it's a strong possibility.
Just after 6:00 Saturday morning the Selma Police Department got a 911 call. Avtar Singh said he just killed four people and was about to kill himself. Then he hung up.
In minutes police were at his Selma home near Pine and Shaft. Maria, who asked that we not use her last name, said her husband heard it all this morning. "He said he heard like three gunshots but he wasn't aware like anything like this was going on. He just kept on cutting the yard and that's it."
There was one survivor, a 17-year-old son who suffered severe head injuries. He's in the hospital.
47-year-old Avtar Singh owned Jay Truck Lines. One of his drivers Ali Adan said business was bad. "He was having a lot of problems with the money. He had like $300,000 he borrowed from his family and he borrowed from the bank $200,000. Everything is getting bad. He told me he is in bad situation. The business is going bad."
Singh's wife and three-year-old son were found in the master bedroom. His 15-year-old son was found in a rear bedroom.
Detectives from the Fresno County Sheriff's Office are now heading up the investigation. Sheriff Margaret Mims offered this observation. "It's horrific for law enforcement to see this and have to investigate it. However it's the actions of one person who evidently saw no other way out."
Mims says about a year ago Singh was arrested on a domestic violence charge. That's when Selma Police discovered Singh was wanted in India on a murder charge. But authorities there refused to extradite him.
