Several people were shot and one teenager is dead following a series of Friday night shootings in Santa Maria on Nov. 20, according to the Santa Maria Police Department.
According to the SMPD, there were three separate shootings spread throughout various parts of the city.
The call for the first shooting came just before 6 p.m. in the area of 1240 W. Bethel where SMPD officers discovered a victim suffering from a gunshot wound in the upper torso. According to the SMPD, the injuries did not appear to be life threatening and the victim was transported to Marian Regional Medical Center.
Nearly two hours later, the SMPD received several calls about gunfire heard near the 1500 block of South Thornburg. When police arrived, they discovered three shooting victims.
Two were transported to the hospital: one to Marian and the other to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. One victim died—identified as 17-year-old Ulises Garcia-Mendez. He is the third teenager to be shot to death in Santa Maria this year. All three victims were 17 years old.
The third shooting came at approximately 8:31 p.m., when the SMPD received calls for shots fired near the corner of North De Joy Street and West Cox Lane.
Officers couldn’t locate anyone when they arrived, however a shooting victim arrived at Marian hospital in a private vehicle at approximately 9:33 p.m., according to police.
The SMPD later determined that the victim—whose injuries, police said, did not appear to be life threatening—was shot in the area of West Williams and North De Joy.
According to SMPD Chief Ralph Martin, all three shootings are gang-related and all of the gunshot victims were male.
Martin said he wasn’t sure if Garcia-Mendez was involved in any gang activity, although he believes he knows which gangs might be behind the shootings and refuses to mention their names.
“I refuse to acknowledge them to give them any credibility,” Martin told the Sun.
So far, according to Martin, there is no evidence to show the shootings were related. However, with three shootings in less than two hours, Martin was “leaning heavily” toward the idea that retaliation might be involved.
Police don’t have any suspects. With three separate shootings in a short span of time, Martin said his detectives are working hard on finding the shooter(s), but are spread thin, adding that one detective is with a shooting victim at Cottage Hospital.
Martin encouraged anyone with information to come forward to the police and remain anonymous. Calls can be made to SMPD detectives at 928-3781, Ext. 2277.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2015.
