Crime & Safety

Gang Members Gunning for One Another

One teen was gravely wounded early Tuesday, the fourth shooting in two days.

A rash of gang-related shootings have rocked Watsonville already this week, injuring one teenager and sending sprays of bullets at three different homes.

No arrests have been made, and detectives are still looking into what sparked the surge in gang violence, Watsonville police said Tuesday morning.

"We're trying to sort it out this morning, and there aren't any easy answers," Lt. David McCartney said. "It appears these are gang-motivated shootings."

Find out what's happening in Watsonvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The most-serious shooting happened around 4 a.m. Tuesday when an 18-year-old was ambushed while sitting in a car 400 block of East Beach Street, police reported.

Two people approached him—one on either side of the car—and at least one opened fire. The 18-year-old was hit more than once, McCartney said.

Find out what's happening in Watsonvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Neighbors heard the gunshots and called 911. Police officers chased the two assailants south, hopping fences through backyards, but didn't catch the gunmen. A .44-caliber revolver was found ditched in a driveway, McCartney said.

The teen was flown to an out-of-county trauma center. Police didn't have a report on the teen's injuries Tuesday morning, but McCartney said, "He's still alive."

Officers linked the gunman to a stolen Jeep-style vehicle that was found abandoned on East Beach Street, close to where the shooting happened.

"It appears they had stolen a car earlier in the evening and driven it to that location," McCartney said. The Jeep was stolen in Watsonville, but police declined to say where it was taken from.

Earlier Tuesday, a gunman fired shots at a home on the 200 block of Bockius Street. The house was hit five times, but no one was hurt, police said.

Monday was quiet, but two houses were shot at on Sunday evening.

• Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, someone opened fired in front of 122 Ginos Ct. Three bullets struck a vehicle in front of the house, and two hit the home. No one was hurt.

• Just after 11 p.m. Sunday, at least six shots were fired at a house on the 100 block of Airport Road.

McCartney said the bullets from the two Sunday shootings were the same caliber. Detectives suspect the bullets came from the same gun and that the same shooters were responsible for both attacks, he said.

However, that gun was not the one recovered by police Tuesday morning, because the revolver found after the East Beach Street shooting doesn't kick out shell casings, which were found at all of the other shooting scenes, police said.

The spate of shootings comes on the heels of last month's gang-related gunshot slaying of 20-year-old Isaac Ramirez at a party in a Clifford Avenue apartment. No arrests have been made in that case.

McCartney said Watsonville residents should be vigilant about who is in their neighborhood and report suspicious activity to the police. In particular, watch for vehicles that make multiple passes down a street, because they may be plotting an attack.

"For that kind of behavior, we strongly suggest people call the police department," McCartney said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.