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Venezuelan street gang linked to fatal shooting at Monroe County rental home, DA says

Lionardo Hernandez Zarata, 22, was hosting a birthday party at this short-term rental home in the 1300 block of Clover Road in Tunkhannock Township, in the Emerald Lakes development, when he was fatally shot Saturday, Jan. 11, 2024. The Monroe County district attorney has linked the homicide to a Venezuelan street gang. (Courtesy Monroe County DA’s office)
Lionardo Hernandez Zarata, 22, was hosting a birthday party at this short-term rental home in the 1300 block of Clover Road in Tunkhannock Township, in the Emerald Lakes development, when he was fatally shot Saturday, Jan. 11, 2024. The Monroe County district attorney has linked the homicide to a Venezuelan street gang. (Courtesy Monroe County DA’s office)
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Authorities have linked a Venezuelan street gang to the fatal shooting of a man last weekend at a rental home in Monroe County.

District Attorney Mike Mancuso said in a social media post that 22-year-old Lionardo Hernandez Zarata was hosting a birthday party Jan. 11th at a short-term rental home in the 1300 block of Clover Road in the Emerald Lakes development in Tunkhannock Township when he was fatally shot.

Zarata, of Venezuela, was shot multiple times. He booked the house for a weekend party there.

Mancuso said there also were several spent shell casings and bullet holes in the home, making it “readily apparent” that several different calibers of ammunition were used.

Additionally, suitcases were left in the driveway, and phones, cash and Venezuelan ID cards were left behind, according to the DA. Drugs and paraphernalia also were found there, he said.

Mancuso said the investigation led to drug arrests and determined the incident was linked to the gang known as “Tren de Aragua,” a transnational crime organization that began in the Tocorón Prison in Aragua.

The gang expanded from South America, and recently into Central America and the United States, he said.

During interviews with partygoers, many expressed fear of retaliation from the gang, according to Mancuso.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police are investigating. Two others were shot at the party and are expected to survive their injuries. Authorities said all involved were from Venezuela.

The investigation is ongoing, Mancuso said, adding that they are still working to identify those involved in the shooting.

Tren de Aragua has increasingly been on the radar of U.S. law enforcement agencies. Last July, the Biden administration sanctioned the gang, putting it on the same list of transnational criminal organizations as MS-13.

The gang gained national attention in September after . Sixteen suspected Tren de Aragua members were placed in federal custody last month on immigration holds in connection with a violent home invasion and kidnapping at the apartments, the .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Originally Published:

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