Gilroy
– Two people were shot late Tuesday night in a gang-related
incident on Stoney Court, police said. The victims, a 25-year-old
man and a 14-year-old boy, are expected to survive, but the crime
has troubled witnesses and neighbors, who said the apartment
complex alongside U.S. 101 is normally quiet.
Gilroy – Two people were shot late Tuesday night in a gang-related incident on Stoney Court, police said. The victims, a 25-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, are expected to survive, but the crime has troubled witnesses and neighbors, who said the apartment complex alongside U.S. 101 is normally quiet.
“I could have been killed,” said a 13-year-old witness, a friend of one of the victims. “I’m going to start going to bed early.”
Gilroy police declined to say how many suspects were involved, or to identify them. The shooting happened just before 11pm Tuesday. Gang investigators worked until sunrise Wednesday morning, interviewing victims and witnesses, then returned to work the same day. A department press release categorized the crime as attempted murder.
The 13-year-old boy, who said he witnessed the crime, was one of five males hanging out in a white Toyota in the parking lot of 590 Stoney Court, outside an apartment complex, when a single male suspect approached, and asked, “Are you Sureño?” The boy said the suspect spoke fluent English, but was affecting a Mexican accent. Sureño gangsters are typically Mexican-born, Spanish-speaking and wear blue; Norteños, their enemies, are usually U.S.-born Latinos who wear red and speak English.
“It’s like he was trying to fool us,” the boy said, “and make us say the wrong thing.”
The passengers said they weren’t Sureño, said the boy, but the man persisted, adding, “Because I’m from Eighth Street, too.” Eighth Street is considered a Sureño area, the boy said. But the man’s pale complexion, flawless English and the “Norteño-type name” he gave made the passengers suspicious. No, they insisted, they weren’t Sureño, and they didn’t live on Eighth Street, either.
Their answer didn’t seem to matter. From alongside the driver’s seat, the man pulled a black handgun and shot repeatedly into the car, hitting two passengers in the backseat. The boy bolted from beside them, leaving the four men in the car. Behind him, he said, he heard someone shout, “Leave him – he’s just a little kid.”
Police declined to describe the victims’ injuries, saying only that they weren’t life-threatening. The boy said his friends drove to a nearby hospital to be treated. Crimson bloodstains spatter the parking spot where the boy said the shootings occurred. After he fled, the boy said he hid under a nearby staircase, unable to shake off the sound of his friend moaning. When he emerged, both the gunman and the victims were gone.
Neighbors said the apartments are typically quiet, and were surprised to see police cruisers pulling into the complex late Tuesday night. Resident Leticia Cruz was awoken that night by a family member, who told her a hurried story about gunshots and a white car.
“I was sound asleep,” Cruz said in Spanish. “I didn’t hear a thing. But people tell me it happened.”
As of press time Wednesday, no arrests had been made.
“It’s a very active investigation,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. Jim Gillio, “and we have several leads we’re following now.”
