Long-standing dispute turned violent in Encinal on Thanksgiving
An Encinal man remains hospitalized in serious condition after being cut in the abdomen with a machete during an altercation on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28.
Emergency responders were dispatched to a home near the intersection of Nogalitos and Front Street in Encinal shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday to find a 38-year-old man who had sustained a life-threatening blow from a heavy knife.
La Salle County Deputies Juan Vitela and Romel Salinas launched an investigation into the assault and learned from witnesses that the man had been one of three individuals to approach the property of another family in what appeared to have been an escalation of an ongoing dispute. The man, according to the sheriff’s office, was wounded by a person at that home.
Medics of the La Salle Fire Rescue were dispatched to treat the victim and succeeded in stabilizing his condition to enable his airlift to University Hospital in San Antonio, where he underwent emergency surgery.
“The subject had been sliced in the abdomen with a machete,” La Salle Sheriff’s Lieutenant Homar Olivarez said of the case. “Paramedics were dealing with a severe open wound.”
The Texas Rangers have been summoned to assist the sheriff’s office in the investigation. Further interviews with witnesses are underway this week.
“The reasons for this dispute are still under investigation,” Lt. Olivarez said. “We are also looking into the possibility of a firearm having been present at the time, and whether anyone brandished that weapon.”
A search warrant was executed at the property on Friday by Texas Ranger Enrique Ornelas, Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Investigator Esmeralda Gonzalez and Investigator Rolando Flores.
“Evidence has been recovered from the scene in connection with the offense,” the lieutenant said on Monday. “Persons are cooperating with inquiries. Charges and one or more arrests are pending the outcome of the investigation.”
