Police testing gun to determine if it was used in gang
killing
Morgan Hill – A revolver found wrapped in a cloth at the bottom of a creek may be the weapon used to murder 19-year-old Gilroy resident Luis Santos Bautista during what was likely a gang retaliation incident Sept. 30.
Children found the Colt .38 in the creek behind a residence in the 17500 block of Del Monte Avenue and handed it over to a nearby resident, who turned it over to police.
Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Terrie Booten said Friday the weapon had been sent to the Santa Clara County crime lab for testing.
Police found one round of ammunition at the crime scene that matched another bullet taken from Bautista’s body during an autopsy.
Police believe the murder weapon is either a .38 or .357 caliber revolver, but cannot link the revolver to the killing without ballistic evidence from the crime lab.
“It is possible this could be the weapon, but of course there’s no way we can say more than that until we have results from the tests,” Booten said.
It was not clear if the lab has the equipment for ballistics testing, she added, saying if it doesn’t the weapon would be sent to Sacramento to the Department of Justice for further testing.
Anthony James Frausto, 18, of Morgan Hill, was arrested shortly after Bautista died from four gunshot wounds. Frausto turned himself in, he said, because he wanted to “clear his name” when he heard police were looking for him. He is being held in Santa Clara County Jail without bail.
Police are still searching for two suspects in the killing – two males, one possibly white and one possibly Hispanic, in their late teens or early 20s.
Friday morning, the case was continued until Nov. 15 at 1:30pm, because attorney Andrew Tursi had just received the case file.
