Robbers Kill Five Tavern Patrons

Three robbers with sawed-off shotguns killed five people in a tavern at the edge of town and got away.

The owner of Pato’s Place, which doesn’t have a reputation for trouble, was wounded while emptying the till Tuesday night and pretended to be dead until the shooting stopped, police said.

Two victims were found near a pool table and three others were found near the bar. They were the only people in the tavern at the time.

Tulare, a town of 35,000 residents in central California about 45 miles south of Fresno, is where seven people were slain in a similar massacre just over two years ago. The May 1993 killings at Carrillo’s Club remain unsolved.