Police are investigating a suspected link between gang-related
shootings that occurred on consecutive nights. No injuries were
reported after shots were fired Thursday night on Monticelli Drive,
but witnesses said they believed the incident was related to a
shooting the previous night on Lewis Street, where a 22-year-old
man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Police are investigating a suspected link between gang-related shootings that occurred on consecutive nights in Gilroy.
No injuries were reported after shots were fired Thursday night on Monticelli Drive, but witnesses told police they believed the incident was related to a shooting the previous night on Lewis Street, where a 22-year-old man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Several people who live on or near Monticelli Drive told the Dispatch on Friday morning they believed the second shooting was a retaliation.
Both shootings are being investigated as gang-related incidents, according to the Gilroy Police Department.
Just after 8 p.m. Thursday, residents of a home in the 800 block of Monticelli Drive observed “suspicious vehicles and pedestrians in the area,” according to the GPD. Those residents informed family members inside. When the family members acknowledged the presence of the “suspicious parties,” those individuals left the area, police said. Later, one resident saw more pedestrians that were unknown in the neighborhood. As that resident went inside to warn family members, shots were fired into the home, according to the GPD.
Police said no one was injured by the gunfire and the suspects fled before officers arrived.
This family on Monticelli Drive is not directly connected to the Lewis Street shooting and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise, according to police. On Wednesday night, an unknown number of suspects approach a small group of men in a garage on Lewis Street and opened fire, wounding the 22-year-old victim.
The Dispatch interviewed several residents, who did not want to give their names for fear of retribution. None of them said they heard gunshots Thursday night, but several did notice a police presence.
One woman, who said she lived on a street near Monticelli Drive, was convinced Thursday’s shooting was a retaliation. She said she feared similar incidents would continue.
“They’re just going to keep going back and forth and retaliating,” she said.
Another woman said one of her neighbors was “extremely scared” following the shooting and wondered if fliers should be posted advising parents to keep their children indoors.
“She said, ‘Oh God, this is probably retaliation,’ ” the woman said.
The woman said she went outside and saw five police cars parked near or across from a single house on Monticelli Drive. She said she saw officers talking to at least one handcuffed man and shining flashlights into the upstairs window of the home.
“I felt safe,” she said. “It looked to me that the police had it under control.”
She added, “They’re going to be watching that area.”
The Dispatch attempted to speak with residents inside the home, but knocks at the front door went unanswered.
The two shooting locations are nothing alike.
Lewis Street, which runs just seven blocks east of downtown, is dotted with older, worn residences and a flood control creek runs under the 300 block.
The houses and apartments on Monticelli Drive, about two-tenths of a mile from Santa Teresa Boulevard on the western end of Gilroy, are newer by comparison. One resident said the street was “generally a very quiet neighborhood.” Many homes along the street were affixed with security doors and signs reading, “No solicitors.”
One woman was stunned to hear a shooting had occurred on her street.
“Really, here?” she said. “I didn’t hear anything. I was all by myself, too.”
Another resident who said he lives in the Monticelli Apartments, saw several police cars and officers around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. He said officers appeared to be looking for someone, using flashlights to search around buildings, bushes and a parking lot.
“They were looking all over,” he said.
He said he also saw officers place at least one handcuffed man into a police vehicle. Officers were present until about 9:15 or 9:30 p.m., he said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident can call GPD investigator Douglas Remmick at 846-0350 or anonymously at (800)-782-7463.
