2 Teens Killed, 2 Injured in Shooting Outside Garland House Party

Two people are in custody after a shooting outside a Garland house party Saturday night left two teenagers dead and two other people injured, police say.

According to the Garland Police Department, officers were called to a shooting in the 800 block of Magnolia Drive shortly before midnight Sunday.

Police said when officers arrived, they found several people with apparent gunshot wounds near the roadway.

An 18-year-old male, identified as Jose Damian Garcia, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

According to police, paramedics transported three people to nearby hospitals, where 17-year-old Melvin Germain Salas died from his injuries, Garland police confirmed Tuesday.

Police said two others, both of whom were injured by gunfire, are in stable condition and are expected to survive.

Matt Pesta, with the Garland Police Department, said detectives know about the party at a house on Magnolia but don’t know why a disturbance out on the street got out of hand so quickly and so violently.

“We’re really just trying to come up with answers as to why this happened," Pesta told NBC 5.

Police said two people involved in the shooting were arrested at the scene. They were identified as 21-year-old Jesus Saldana, of Garland, and 22-year-old Christopher Torres, of Arlington.

According to police, Saldana and Torres are currently in the Garland Detention Center, charged with murder. No bond has been set, police said.

The deaths are the first two homicides in the city of Garland this year. The last homicide in the city also resulted in the deaths of more than one person under the age of 18, when three young people were killed inside a convenience store in December 2021. Garland police believe the shooter, in that case, is a 14-year-old that has not been arrested.

Police said anyone with information regarding this latest shooting is urged to call the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840.