Deadly Triple Shooting in Dinuba Plum Orchard, Investigators say Between Farm Laborers

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office is still trying to piece together information on a deadly triple shooting in the middle of a plum orchard just south of Dinuba on Wednesday morning. One person has died and two have been injured. All three victims, according to Sheriff Deputies, are farm laborers.

Lt . Rob Schimpf said the shooting took place around 9:45am in an orchard near Avenue 400 and Road 74. He said there was some sort of confrontation between two groups of farm laborers. Then, according to Schimpf, shots were fired.

"We don’t know the nature of the disturbance or what caused the confrontation, but there was a confrontation that resulted in gun fire," said Schimpf.

A resident who lives across the street from the orchard, who wanted to stay anonymous, said she has a friend who is a farm laborer who witnessed Wednesday morning’s whole ordeal.

"He said he’d seen a guy was shot in the head. One of them was shot in the arm, and the other one on his leg," said the woman.

She said her farm worker friend and his colleague were just picking plums. Then, "They heard the two guys fighting, and one of them went home, grabbed a gun, came back, and just started shooting during the lunch time."

The woman said it was a frightening moment for many of the farm workers, as they feared for their lives.

"He threw himself on the floor! Yes, he said he threw himself on the floor, to avoid the bullets!" exclaimed the woman.

The Sheriff’s Office said it has detained one man, who matches the suspect’s description, but are not yet calling that person a suspect.

The other two victims were transported to a nearby hospital, according to Schimpf. Their conditions are unknown at this time.