EDINBURG POLICE IDENTIFY 5 OF 6 KILLED IN GUN ATTACK

EDINBURG -- Five of the six men killed here early Sunday by gunmen posing
as police officers were identified today. Edinburg police identified Jerry
Eugene Hidalgo, 24, and Ray Hidalgo, 30, as the two men who were tied up
with electrical cords, along with their mother, by the killers.

The mother told police that the killers demanded drugs, weapons and money
before spraying the men with bullets. She also described one of the killers
as wearing a ski mask and a garment bearing the word "police."

The other dead men identified today were Juan Delgado Jr., 32; his brother,
Juan Delgado III, 20; and Ruben Orlando Castillo, 32.

The sixth victim had not been identified as of midday.

All the men are believed to residents of Edinburg.

Edinburg Police Chief Quirino Munoz confirmed that some of the victims were
known by the police, but he declined to comment on whether they had
criminal records.

The attacks took place early Sunday, when the killers barged into two old
wood-frame homes on the same lot in a rural neighborhood in the northeast
section of the city.

Law enforcement authorities believe there might have been four to five
assailants.

Police also said the fact the gunmen wore either a T-shirt or jacket
bearing the word "police" is not uncommon here. In the past four to five
years they have reported an increase in pseudo-police incidents.