Police have arrested two admitted gang members in connection
with a non-fatal shooting at the Burger King on Leavesley Road
Sunday afternoon, but their roles in the incident remain cloudy,
Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Chad Gallicinao said.
Police have arrested two admitted gang members in connection with a non-fatal shooting at the Burger King on Leavesley Road Sunday afternoon, but their roles in the incident remain cloudy, Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Chad Gallicinao said.
About half an hour after an admitted Sureño gang member showed up at Saint Louise Regional Hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, police observed Jonathan Jesus Hernandez, 19, and Everardo Lalo Valdovinos, 19, running away from the crime scene along the U.S. 101 access road.
Sheriff’s deputies intercepted the two at the dead-end of IOOF Avenue, down a hill from the freeway about half a mile south of Burger King. Hernandez had a loaded .22 caliber revolver on his person, and Valdovinos had methamphetamine and an outstanding no-bail warrant after failing to appear in court for driving under the influence, Gallicinao said.
Hernandez told police he and fellow members of the Eighth Street Sureños, also known as Calle Ocho, were eating inside Burger King when a rival Norteño walked in. After exchanging hand signals with the lone adversary who indicated that they should take it outside, Hernandez said he and his crew chased the male out into the parking lot, according to a police report. That’s when the predators became the prey.
A shiny black four-door Honda pulled into the parking lot to pick up the solo Norteño, and then a red-clad passenger emerged from the rear passenger seat of the car and fired at the group of blue-clad Sureños that included Hernandez. As they scattered, a bullet struck the Sureño in the rear of his right shoulder.
Witnesses at nearby hotels and in the parking lot reported hearing as many as eight shots, most fired in the parking lot while others rang out from the Honda moments later as it sped southbound on the U.S. 101 access ramp, shooting at the Sureños fleeing along the parallel canal below.
“Obviously running like that is not normal behavior,” Gallicinao said, but he cautioned that the circumstances of the initial skirmish were unclear. Hernandez and Valdovinos could have provoked the attack or merely witnessed the event before running off, he said. Valdovinos told police he was not even in the parking lot and met up with Hernandez afterward.
Several witnesses also reported that the gunfire followed a physical fight partially ignited by the Sureños throwing cups of soda at the Honda. And Hernandez initially told police that he had not fired the gun he picked up for protection after the incident, but then he told police that he fired one shot into the air to test it as he and the others ran away, according to the police report. The Honda with tinted windows got away.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against Hernandez for carrying a loaded firearm and participating in a known street gang. He appeared at the San Martin Superior Courthouse Wednesday for his arraignment, but the judge delayed his plea until 9 a.m. Aug. 15 in Department 90. If the court finds him guilty, he could face two to four years in jail, perhaps more depending on his exact involvement.
Anyone with information about the attack may call the Gilroy Police Department at 846-0350. To remain anonymous call 846-0330.
