Appeals Court Orders New Trial For Palmview H-E-B Mass Shooter

Story by TIM SULLIVAN

A new trial has been ordered for the Mission man convicted in the mass shooting at the H-E-B in Palmview almost eight years ago.

The McAllen Monitor reports the 13th Court of Appeals found that a Palmview police detective did not properly advise the gunman, 33-year-old Raul Lopez, of his Miranda rights prior to Lopez being questioned. The appeals court also ruled because of that, the video of the interrogation should not have been played during the trial, adding that if jurors had not seen the video, they may have found Lopez insane.

Lopez’s attorneys had presented an insanity defense, saying Lopez was known to have suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. But the Hidalgo County jury found Lopez guilty of murder and attempted murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

It was early the morning of November 28th 2016 when Lopez, standing outside a window to the store breakroom, fired off a barrage of bullets and shot four fellow employees. One of the co-workers, 48-year-old Mario Pulido, was killed.