The FBI is offering up to a $50,000 reward for a teenager who remains wanted in the killings of three teens at a Texas convenience store in 2021.
The reward is for any tips that lead to 18-year-old Abel Elias Acosta’s arrest and conviction, the FBI’s Dallas Field Office said in a Thursday, April 9, news release shared to Facebook.
“Acosta is wanted in Dallas County, where he faces charges including capital murder of multiple persons, in connection with the fatal shooting of three teenagers in Garland, Texas in December 2021,” the agency said.
Acosta was 14 years old when he allegedly opened fire at a convenience store in Garland the day after Christmas on December 26, 2021, according to the FBI.
He fatally gunned down three teens, and shot and injured a fourth person, the FBI said in a wanted poster for Acosta.
The teenagers who died were identified as 14-year-old Xavier Gonzalez, 16-year-old Ivan Loyola and 17-year-old Rafael Garcia, FOX 4 News reported.
The FBI has said that Acosta “has ties to Mexico and may be living there,” and that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
His father, Richard Acosta Jr., is suspected of helping Abel flee the U.S. to Mexico, after he allegedly had a role in the fatal December 2021 shooting, according to authorities, CBS News reported.
Richard was accused of driving Abel to and from the convenience store where Abel killed the three teenagers, according to the outlet.
Richard went to law enforcement to turn himself in the next day and later claimed he was unaware that Abel was involved in a shooting at the store, CBS News reported.
He was convicted of capital murder and handed a life prison sentence in 2023 for the killings, according to the outlet.
In December 2025, an arrest warrant for Abel was issued out of Dallas County, where he is charged with capital murder of multiple persons, as well as murder, the FBI said.
On January 26, 2026, a federal arrest warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued, according to the FBI.
“We know he has longstanding ties to the Garland area, and we ask anyone with information to contact the FBI,” R. Joseph Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, said of Abel, according to WFAA. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners at the Garland Police Department to bring justice to the victims’ families and the Garland community.”
