A car full of men shouting gang slogans fired numerous shots at
residents playing soccer and chatting at picnic tables in a park in
north Gilroy, police said.
A car full of men shouting gang slogans fired numerous shots at residents playing soccer and chatting at picnic tables in a park in north Gilroy, police said.
About 9 p.m. Monday, a dark, late model sedan heading west on Mantelli Drive near Hirasaki Avenue passed by Rainbow Park and its occupants shouted gang slogans and something witnesses couldn’t understand, said Sgt. Jim Gillio. Several minutes later, the same car circled back and one of the driver’s-side occupants fired a handgun several times at at least eight people in the park, Gillio said. Nobody was injured in the shooting but two cars were struck by bullets.
The apparent targets of the shooting did not have any gang ties, police said. Because of the warm evening weather and the relatively early hour of the shooting, a soccer game was just wrapping up and other residents were sitting at picnic tables. Police interviewed at least eight witnesses who ranged from teenagers to adults.
“We have no information about who the intended victim was,” Gillio said, adding that he’s seen similar circumstances in gang-initiation shootings. He did not, however, know if Monday evening’s drive-by was an initiation, he said.
“We have several leads to follow and we’re conducting an active gang investigation,” he said. “The style of crime – a drive-by – indicates that the shooting was gang-related.”
The area where the shooting took place is heavily residential, with two schools – Mount Madonna Continuation High School and Rod Kelley Elementary School – and many single- and multi-family houses nearby.
The drive-by ends a relative calm in Gilroy, with few violent incidents in the past month.
“It was a very quiet month,” Gillio agreed.
He credited a combination of several arrests in connection with the gang-related shooting death of 18-year-old Larry Martinez Jr. last November, recent arrests carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and heightened awareness in the community and police department as factoring into the recent calm.
Anyone with information can call 846-0300. Parties wishing to remain anonymous may call WeTip at (800) 782-7463.
