UPDATED: Man Shot and Killed in Target Parking Lot

An 18-year-old man was shot and killed on Saturday night in the parking lot of in Watsonville.

The man was leaving Target with his girlfriend around 6:15 p.m. when the shooting occurred, according to Watsonville Police Sgt. Saul Gonzalez. As he left the store, he got into a verbal altercation with someone in a green Honda Accord in the parking lot.

Gonzalez said as the man and his girlfriend walked away toward their vehicle, the driver of the Accord circled around the parking lot and pulled up next to him. Someone in the Accord then opened fire with a handgun.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His girlfriend, 25, was also shot and was transported to with a non-threatening gunshot wound.

“At this time, we believe it was gang related,” Gonzalez said. “It looks like a wrong-place, wrong-time type of thing. On the surface, it appears that opposing gangs ran into each other and things escalated.”

Two people were in the Accord, which sped out of the parking lot after the shooting. They are still at large.

This slaying is the fifth homicide of the year for Watsonville. Two of the previous homicides, and , were also gang related, however, Gonzalez said it does not appear that this latest shooting is related to the previous ones.

Watsonville PD has released video surveillance of the Target parking lot showing the Honda Accord and are asking for the public’s help in identifying the occupants of the vehicle or any witnesses who were in the parking lot at the time. The Honda can be seen at 6:13 and again at 6:15 p.m. in the video.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call the WPD Investigation Division at 831-768-3350 or the Crime Tip Line at 831-768-3544.