Police are still looking for two of the three suspects who allegedly shot at two men, injuring one, while driving west on Spring Avenue in Morgan Hill the night of June 20.
Authorities think the shooting, which followed a verbal argument between two groups of men, was gang-related. The suspects “should be considered armed and dangerous,” according to a June 24 press release from MHPD.
Police arrested Deja Maria Ayala, 21 of Gilroy, the night of June 24, according to Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Carson Thomas. Ayala is accused of driving the gray four-door sedan from which the suspects shot the victims.
Morgan Hill police responded to the area of Spring Avenue and Monterey Road about 11:14 p.m. June 20 to investigate a report of shots fired, according to the press release.
As officers arrived they found two victims, including a 25-year-old Gilroy man who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his upper torso and arm, police said. The second victim, a 29-year-old Morgan Hill man, was not injured.
Officers provided the Gilroy man with first aid until fire and paramedics arrived, according to authorities. The man was later transported to a local trauma center for emergency surgery and continued care. He remains in “serious but stable” condition and is expected to survive.
During the investigation officers learned an argument began between the victims and another group of males just behind Mr. Hong’s Chinese restaurant, 16745 Monterey Road, police said. The two victims attempted to walk away from the altercation, but the two male suspects continued to taunt and yell at them.
As the victims were walking westbound on Spring Avenue, the two male suspects entered a gray four-door sedan which was driven by Ayala, police said. The young woman drove the vehicle westbound on Spring Avenue, and stopped abruptly near the victims.
At that point multiple gunshots were seen and heard coming from inside the vehicle, police said.
All three suspects fled the scene in the vehicle which was last seen in the area of Spring and Del Monte avenues, according to the press release.
The suspects were later identified as Francisco Diaz, 22, Nicolas Young, 21, and Ayala, police said. All three suspects are from Gilroy. Police identified the suspects through previous “police contacts in Gilroy and Morgan Hill” and video surveillance of the area where the June 20 shooting occurred, according Thomas.
The last shooting reported by authorities in the Morgan Hill area was in October 2012, when two men who knew each other had a verbal dispute at a home on Peebles Avenue that ended with the suspect, Mario Calderon, 33, shooting the victim in the arm.
The last gang-related drive-by shooting reported by Morgan Hill police occurred Nov. 4, 2011, when five suspects allegedly shot and killed 14-year-old Tara Romero and injured three of her teen friends outside the Village Avante Apartments complex at the intersection of Cosmo and Del Monte avenues.
Diaz and Young are still on the run and should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Anyone with information about this incident can contact Morgan Hill police at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.
