Detectives Searching for Leads in Prospect Street Slaying

Watsonville police and staff from the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office served a search warrant Wednesday on the mixed-use building where and planned to impound at least two vehicles that may be connected in the violence, Watsonville police Sgt. Saul Gonzalez reported.

A 37-year-old man who lived in the beige stucco building at the corner of Madison and Prospect streets was shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene. A 22-year-old woman with him was hit with gunfire, but managed to make her way down the street and get help. Someone called 9-1-1 around 3:05 a.m., according to police.

The woman was badly hurt, but is expected to recover.

Investigators have not hinted at what provoked the deadly shooting, other than to say they don't believe it was random. The man was targeted, Gonzalez said.

The violence stunned the neighborhood, an area of older, modest single-family homes that remained quiet—except for the police investigation—Wednesday.

"It's kinda scary. It's too close," said a man watering his roses across the street and three doors down from the scene of the shooting.

The man, who declined to give his name, said he's lived in the neighborhood for more than seven years.

"It's really peaceful here," he said.

That wasn't the case five months ago when  where Wednesday's fatal shooting occurred. They were hunting for a suspected gun thief and ended up in four-hour standoff with two men. Gonzalez said one of those men was the shooting victim.

His name has not been released.

Gonzalez said officers served a search warrant on the building and intended to impound two vehicles parked in front of it on Prospect Street: a older black BMW and a well-used red sport utility vehicle. Gonzalez said the cars were going to be towed for vehicle code violations, but that they also may be connected to the shooting.

The area was shut down for hours Wednesday as detectives worked. Watsonville police cadets manned road closures on both Madison and Prospect streets while the police department's crime scene investigators collected evidence. A pop-up tent was erected outside of the building where the man was killed.

Investigators went door-to-door seeking witnesses. Gonzalez said no one has reported hearing the gunfire; the man watering his flowers said he awoke before dawn to officers pounding on his door.

Gonzalez said it would be days before the identity of the man who was killed is made public.

Detectives ask anyone with information about Wednesday morning's shooting to contact the Investigation Division at (831) 768-3350 or the Crime Tip Line at (831) 768-3544.

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