‘I hit the floor,’ resident says of gunfire near Santa Monica College

Neighbors watched from a Santa Monica street corner Tuesday morning as police scoured an alley for evidence in a shooting that sent two men to a local trauma center.

Resident Cordia Bass, 46, had just returned to his 16th Street home from the gym when he heard four gunshots.

“I hit the floor,” he said.

By the time he peered out the window to see what had happened, police cars had already swarmed the street near Santa Monica College.

Two men were standing in the alley in the 1500 block of Michigan Avenue when a suspect walked up and opened fire about 8:15 a.m., Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis said.

The suspect ran to a vehicle, believed to be a blue Infiniti, which drove away westbound on Michigan.

Officers found the victims, described as men 25 to 35 years old, with multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body, Lewis said. Parademics took them to the trauma center, where they were undergoing surgery. Their names and conditions were unavailable.

Police continued to search for the suspect and vehicle.

The incident marked the third shooting in Santa Monica in five days. On Friday, authorities say 23-year-old John Zawahri killed his father and brother in their Yorkshire Avenue home and embarked on a bloody rampage to Santa Monica College. Zawahri killed three other people before police fatally shot him in the school library.

On Sunday afternoon, police said a cyclist was shot and wounded on Yorkshire Boulevard, a few blocks north of the Zawahri home. That man was in stable condition, Lewis said Tuesday.

Law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday’s incident had no connection with Friday’s rampage, but said authorities were looking into whether it was connected to the Sunday shooting.

Lewis said that as of Monday, crime in Santa Monica was down 10% compared with the same time last year. The L.A. Times Homicide Report shows that one homicide occurred in Santa Monica in 2012 and two the previous year.

“Santa Monica’s a very quiet city,” Lewis said. “This particular neighborhood has in the past -- not for a few years now -- been subject to a few shootings, some gang violence.”

ALSO:

Santa Monica College shooter had interest in assault weapons

Suspect, vehicle sought in shooting near Santa Monica College

Mom and boyfriend who allegedly tortured, murdered boy due in court

matt.stevens@latimes.com

kate.mather@latimes.com

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com