Via KTLA/AP
SAN BERNARDINO, California — Five men have been arrested in the investigation surrounding the discovery of six bodies following a marijuana-related dispute last week at a remote dirt road intersection in the Southern California desert, sheriff's officials said Monday.
Authorities found the body in the Mojave Desert outside El Mirage after someone called 911 and said he had been shot, said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Warwick said. Five bodies were discovered late Tuesday, and six the next morning.
Warwick said at a news conference that police arrested five suspects after serving a search warrant on Sunday.
“We are confident that this appears to be a debate about marijuana,” he said.
The area, about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles, was so remote that the sheriff's department requested help from the California Highway Patrol's Aviation Division to locate the scene.
Overhead footage taken by a TV station last week showed a dark blue SUV with its passenger window blown out and another door open, but parts of the image were blurred. The video also showed numerous yellow evidence marks in the shrubby desert.