Updated Nov. 6: A teenager was shot in Watsonville early Sunday in a neighborhood plagued with gang violence but the suspected gunman initially arrested was never charged with the crime.
The 18-year old was shot on the 100 block of Roache Road around 2:30 a.m. The teen was in front of his house and had just gotten home, Watsonville police Sgt. Burt Iles said.
The teen suffered a gunshot wound in the chest, according to police. He was treated at Watsonville Community Hospital, and the gunshot wound is closer to his shoulder than to his heart, according to Iles.
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Witnesses intially identified a 26-year-old man as the shooter and he was arrested. However, a relative said he was not charged. He remains behind bars for an unrelated conviction.
The motive or gang relations are unknown at this point, Iles said.
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Two years ago, a 21-year-old man was killed in the same neighborhood. Richard Campos was gunned down while sitting in his car outside his father's house in what police said was a gang initiation. Three men have been arrested in connection with that slaying.
