Five people shot dead in Texas, gunman on run

Police were searching for a gunman believed to have shot dead five Hondurans including an eight-year-old child at a house in Texas, the local sheriff said Saturday, in the latest mass shooting to hit the United States.

Investigators believe the gunman had been firing his AR-15 style gun in a neighbouring yard when the victims asked him to stop, as they were trying to get a baby to sleep, US media reported.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers described a horrifying scene when authorities went to the residence after receiving a call about "harassment" around 11:30pm  Friday.

The victims, aged from eight to 40 years old, were strewn from the front door through the house to an inside bedroom, where two of them -- both women -- were found lying on top of two children who survived the massacre.

"In my opinion, they were actually trying to take care of the babies and keep them babies alive," Capers told ABC's Houston station KTRK.

All the victims had been shot "from the neck up almost execution style, basically in the head," he added.

"He had been drinking and he says, 'I'll do what I want to in my front yard,'" Capers told KTRK.

"All the victims were from Honduras," Capers told reporters, adding that 10 people had been in the house at the time.

He said that authorities believe they know who the gunman is, describing him as being from Mexico.

The sheriff's office said later on its Facebook page that the shooter was believed to have left the county.

Residents were being asked to stay inside until the man is apprehended, KTRK reported.