Wild Gunfight Leaves 3 Dead, 40 Bystanders Deny Seeing It

A wild gunfight in a Compton bar early Wednesday, in which at least 25 shots were fired, left three men dead, two wounded and police questioning 40 bystanders who claimed they had not seen a thing.

The dead, all in their 20s, were not immediately identified. Police said the bar owner, Jose Manuel Ortiz, 34, and Jose Luis Madrid, 24, were wounded during the gun battle at the El Western Bar and were hospitalized in stable condition.

Compton Detective E. W. Smith said at least three other men had been shot to death in the same bar in separate incidents in the last year. He said the walls were riddled with bullet holes even before Wednesday’s gun battle.

Smith said the midnight shoot-out developed from an altercation between a customer who objected to being “pat searched” and a security guard at the entrance.

“Possibly he had a gun,” Smith said. “We don’t know for sure. He was one of the deceased; we don’t know which one.”

Smith said the small barroom was jammed with 25 women and 20 men--some of them members of a mariachi band that was playing--when the shooting began inside the bar. Moments later, two men were dead just outside, a third was dying and two, still standing but bleeding, were still inside.

‘40 Witnesses’

“We got 40 witnesses,” Smith said, “and everybody says they were in the bathroom at the time.”

The guard, an employee of the wine and beer bar at 1631 E. Compton Blvd., was himself armed but apparently did not fire his pistol, according to Smith.

“He ran,” Smith said.

He said three recently fired guns were found at the shooting scene, but there may have been others that were carried away from the bar.

Two Compton patrolmen were near the bar in their car, heard the first shots and drove to the scene. Smith said that as they pulled up, the gunfire still crackled and panicky customers were pouring into the street.

On the door of the bar, which was closed and locked up later Wednesday, was a sign: “No Armas. No Drogas. Gracias.”

In English, it means: “No Guns. No Drugs. Thanks.”