Feuding Teens Shoot Driver of Van With BB Gun

Morgan Hill police perform ‘high-risk stop’ with drawn guns; two
handguns, one BB shotgun found
 
Morgan Hill – Two Morgan Hill teens came perilously close to being shot by Morgan Hill police officers after they were seen brandishing weapons from a van.

The 16- and 17-year-olds were arrested and later released to their parents. They were charged with alleged assault with a deadly weapon, possession of prohibited weapons on school grounds, brandishing a replica firearm, possession of a replica firearm and discharge of a BB gun in the city limits.

The incident began as a feud between several teenage boys, according to police Sgt. David Swing. Police dispatchers received a call at 6:50pm Monday from Joseph Rodriguez, 18, of Morgan Hill, who said someone was shooting at him with BB guns. 

“The victim and the suspects know each other; this was apparently the result of a feud of some sort,” Swing said. The dispute was not gang-related, he added.

The shooting occurred in north central Morgan Hill, at Dunne Avenue and Saddleback Drive, Swing said. 

Rodriguez told police he was parked on the side of Saddleback Drive when a Dodge van sprayed his vehicle with BBs. One of his windows was shattered. He followed the van, but then lost sight of it. When he saw the van again several minutes later, he called police and began following it again.

As he was following, Rodriguez told police, the two suspects began firing at his vehicle from the van. Rodriguez gave MHPD officers the van’s direction of travel, and officers arrived as the van was pulling into the parking lot of Live Oak High School on East Main Avenue.

“There were multiple parents and students around, and officers were concerned for their safety,” he said. “They executed a high-risk stop, and the two suspects were taken into custody without incident.”

In a high-risk stop, officers have their guns drawn and order the suspects to exit their vehicle with their hands in plain view, usually above their head.

Once the teens were in custody, officers searched the van and found two replica handguns, and one BB shotgun. 

Swing said two of the charges officers are seeking – possession of a replica firearm and discharge of a BB gun in the city limits – are violations of Morgan Hill’s municipal code.

The codes were put in place to prevent tragic accidents because of the close resemblance of replica guns to real guns. In April of 2004, four teens narrowly escaped being shot by police as they were spotted in a park near Jackson Elementary by panicked parents. The teens ran when police yelled for them to stop; MHPD officials said the incident could have ended tragically.

“Fortunately, this ended up OK, from that perspective,” Swing said. “The kids, once they were stopped, complied with what the officers asked them to do. But if an officer had come upon someone sticking what resembles a rifle out of a vehicle, shooting at another vehicle, well, it could have had drastic consequences.”

Policed are asking anyone whose vehicle may have sustained damage as a result of this incident to call MHPD Officer Joshua Norris at 779-2101.