A man opened fire on customers on the patio of the Alas Locas bar in Cleveland, Texas, killing one person and wounding six more. The suspect fled in a white SUV and is being sought by authorities.

The shooting occurred at 2:30 a.m. Sunday at the Alas Locas sports bar in Cleveland, 45 miles northeast of Houston.

According to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, the shooter, who had been drinking alone at the bar for more than an hour, briefly stepped outside and then returned to the patio to open fire on customers.

Investigators recovered shell casings from a .40 or .45 caliber handgun and estimate the man fired at least 20 times before escaping in a white full-size SUV with no side windows.

Victims and Injured

One of the victims, who was accompanied by his wife, died at the hospital after being transported by helicopter. Six other customers, including five men and a woman, were injured; Two remain in critical condition.

The incident has revived concerns in the Houston metropolitan area, where a mass shooting had already occurred on March 23 at Latinas Sports Bar, leaving six injured. In that case, police arrested Jose Miguel Briceno, a 25-year-old Venezuelan citizen, accused of opening fire inside the establishment.

Briceno was later linked to the Anti-Tren transnational criminal organization, along with 15 other undocumented foreigners, in a federal operation that dismantled drug and arms trafficking networks.

Although there is no evidence that the Cleveland shooting is gang-related, local and federal authorities are investigating possible links given the repeated violence in bars in the Houston area.