UPDATE: Riverside Drive Police Standoff Ends

Update: 5:20 p.m.
A standoff between Watsonville police and a gunman suspected of shooting someone on Riverside Drive earlier in the afternoon ended just before 5 p.m. when the gunman gave himself up, KSBW reported.


The man, who may have lived in the house, came out after others inside convinced him to surrender. According to KSBW, a young girl and her grandmother were in the house at the time.

The Register Pajaronian has these photos from the scene.

The area—Riverside Drive between Marchant and Union streets—was expected to reopen around 5:30 p.m.

Original story, 4:30 p.m. 
Riverside Drive was closed between Union and Marchant streets Friday afternoon following a shooting in front of a house, police reported. 

The shooting was reported just before 3 p.m. at 136 Riverside Dr., near Burger King and Romo's Auto Group, according to emergency radio traffic.

The shooting victim was flown from Watsonville Community Hospital to a Bay Area trauma center, according to emergency radio traffic.


The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported Watsonville police officers were in some sort of a standoff with someone inside a home on Union Street, near the shooting scene.

Police sent a Nixle alert via text message and email at 3:37 p.m. saying the area would be closed for at least 45 additional minutes.

Information about the shooting victim, the assailant and any possible motive were not immediately available.

The shooting occurred just a block from the Watsonville Police Station and during a busy afternoon in downtown Watsonville: students were getting out of class and the Farmers Market was getting underway just blocks away from the shooting scene.

Riverside Drive is what Highway 129 is called as it cuts through Watsonville, connecting highways 1 and 101.


Have more information or did you take photos as you passed the crime scene? Email jennifer.squires@patch.com with news tips and pics.