San Diego : Police Seeking Common Link in 3 Street Slayings

Three men were killed in two separate weekend shootings, and San Diego police are investigating whether the two incidents are connected and gang-related.

The first shooting occurred about 3 a.m. Saturday in Chicano Park and left two men dead and another wounded. It was gang-related, police said.

The second attack occurred about 22 hours later and nine blocks away when several men opened fire on a group of people standing in an elementary school parking lot near Island Avenue and 24th Street.

While police say the two incidents may have been related, they are still wary of connecting them pending further investigation.

“We just don’t know if these are related,” said Sgt. Michael Hentigan, head of the gang detail. “Although both incidents happened in gang-populated areas, out of the five people shot with three dead, only one of them had any connection with gangs. And we are not even sure of the depth of that association.”

The Chicano Park shooting began when three young men approached three others in a parking lot and exchanged words, Carlson said.

“They were standing near a brown vehicle in the parking lot when three approached and then opened fire,” department spokesman Rick Carlson said. “The three men fled southbound and left the area in a dark-colored sedan.”

Gerardo Isaias Zarzosa, 26, of University Heights died of a gunshot wound to his chest at UC San Diego Medical Center. Claro Rodriguez Jimenez, 21, of Logan Heights was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to his head at Mercy Hospital. Jimenez was the only person the police have been able to determine had any interaction with gang activity, Hentigan said. Refugio Baneilos, 26, was wounded and was in stable condition Monday at UC San Diego Medical Center.

In the second attack, about 1 a.m. Sunday, a group of people were standing in the Sherman School parking lot when shots were fired from a passing car.

Gerardo Jaime Ortiz, 19, was struck in the head, abdomen and back. He was taken by private car to nearby San Diego Physicians and Surgeons Hospital, where he died at 4:40 a.m.

Rebecca Myers, 18, of San Diego, was hit in the leg and was treated at Kaiser Hospital and released.

“Ortiz was apparently drinking in the parking lot with several other people when several male Hispanics in a white Ford Granada drove up and one of them fired several rounds from a .32-caliber automatic,” Carlson said.