The Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) is investigating a shooting in the Newlove Drive area of Santa Maria that occurred during the evening of March 13.
According to SMPD Sgt. Andy Magallon, officers were called to investigate a report of gunshots heard in the 300 block of Newlove around 9:20 p.m. When they arrived, they found a male victim suffering from a single gunshot wound.
Magallon said the shooting is being investigated as gang-related. Magallon couldn’t elaborate on how officers came to that conclusion, although he added that the victim was being “somewhat uncooperative” and not providing police with much information.
It’s the first such shooting in Santa Maria since Jan. 25, when 29-year-old Agustin Jaime Montano-Barajas and 25-year-old Alexis Morales were found shot to death inside of a car near the corner of Church and Elizabeth streets.
Their deaths remain unsolved.
The victim in the Newlove Drive shooting was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for his wound, which is not life-threatening, Magallon said.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2016.