Suspect
– allegedly wearing red bandana – opens fire on vehicle,
striking the driver in his thigh
Gilroy – A late afternoon shooting of a 24-year-old Gilroy resident continued a surge of violent gang activity sparked over the Easter weekend. The shooting occurred about 3:40pm on Sargent Street near Del Sol Market and as of press time police had one suspect in custody.
“There are (four) suspects – (three) Hispanic males, and one Hispanic female believed to be in their mid-to late 20s. We have one person who is here, detained, and the investigation is continuing,” Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal said.
The victim was driving a Cadillac with a passenger who is believed to be a gang associate, when there was an altercation with a gold or champagne colored Lexus, police said. At least two shots were fired from inside the Lexus, one bullet striking the driver in the thigh. He was taken to a San Jose area hospital where he was being treated for his injuries as of press time.
“My understanding is he was stable,” Svardal said. “But we haven’t heard yet. Until the medical professionals have examined him we just don’t know.”
According to witnesses, the Cadillac rolled onto Broadway where it stopped on the righthand side of the road and the Lexus continued past the car taking a left onto Hanna Street.
“I heard them yelling at first,” said a Broadway Street resident. “This has never happened here before. I don’t want this (stuff) happening in front of my house. I have kids.”
Witnesses described hearing anywhere from two to five gunshots.
“It sounded like firecrackers at first,” said Richard, a Broadway Street resident who was working in his garage when he heard the shots. “At minimum I heard four, maybe five. I just moved here a couple of years ago. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. I heard about gang activity here, but never seen it. They say lightening doesn’t strike twice in the same place, but lately…” he said trailing off.
One eyewitness said the shooter was wearing a red bandana around his face and said the suspects were in their 20s. The person was able to provide police with a partial license plate number.
A mother pushing a stroller and walking her young son to his baseball game passed through the police tape blocking off First Street, looking concerned. Crowds of neighborhood children out for spring vacation watched as police blocked off the streets.
“It could have been worse. There could have been kids here,” one Brownell eighth-grader said.
The Anti-Crime Team is handling Monday’s shooting – as well as three other gang-related incidents – within the last five days.
In the first incident early Sunday morning, a 25-year-old Santa Cruz man suffered gunshot wounds to both legs. The victim had just been at the drive-through at Jack in the Box on Monterey Road about 2:30am, and stopped at the intersection of Leavesley and Monterey roads, when a newer model gray Volkswagen Jetta pulled alongside his vehicle.
The suspects inside the Jetta asked the victim and his passenger questions, which police believe are gang-related. One suspect pulled out a handgun and fired two shots. One bullet struck the driver in the left leg and went through to the right leg, police said. The victim sped off, afraid that he was being followed and contacted police.
According to police, neither the victim nor his passenger are in any way associated with gangs.
“It could very well have been a case of mistaken identity,” Svardal said. “Who would be responsible for this we don’t know.”
Mistaken identity appears to be behind a second incident early Sunday evening at Las Animas Park when a father and son playing handball were attacked by gang members who believed the father was a member of the rival gang, police said.
“The son had gone off to get a stray ball. A group of gang members approach the father and ask if he is a gang member. He denies any affiliation. The suspects accuse the father of lying and that he is a member of a rival gang,” Svardal said.
When the 12-year-old returned he saw that his father was being hit and kicked and tried to intervene. The son was then hit in the attack, police said.
The two victims took off on foot and contacted police who arrived on scene shortly after and arrested five Gilroy teens for assault with a deadly weapon about 4:30pm.
Louie Vallez, Isaac Anthony Gonzalez and Robert Alexander Amazcoa, all 18, and two juvenile males ages 15 and 17, were arrested after being identified in a police line up.
“One of these boys was out on a weekend pass from the boys ranch for Easter,” Svardal said.
The two attacks are the most recent instances of innocent victims being targeted by gang members in random acts of violence. The rise in violent gang activity may be indicative of territory disputes, police said.
“There has been a couple of unusual attacks and when we look at something like (Saturday’s) shooting and something like the assault at Las Animas Park it definitely makes us a little concerned,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal. “It almost seems like there might be some territorial claims and for awhile we weren’t seeing a lot of that. It does bring concerns especially when we’ve had three in one week.”
Last Wednesday, a 19-year-old man and his uncle were walking down First Street near the intersection at Church Street about 5:30pm, when a car pulled alongside them and four men got out and started beating the teen with a baseball bat, accusing him of being a rival gang member.
According to police, neither victim is associated with gangs, or was wearing gang colors. The victims spoke only Spanish, which may have singled them out, police said.
“That was a case where the suspects assumed things and an innocent victim got hurt,” Svardal said. “One of the problems with gang members is they’re not very discriminating. They profile people by what they are wearing and sometimes they are wrong (about who they think they are).”
ACT investigators have noticed a surge in gang activity over the past couple of months.
“The tension is out there in the streets,” said ACT Sgt. Greg Flippo. “We’re just trying to keep a lid on things.”
Anyone with information about Monday’s shooting should contact police at 846-0350.
