Spree That Killed 2, Wounded 2, Is a Puzzle

The shooting of four people that erupted late Thursday in a Spring Valley apartment complex was apparently a random assault that has left sheriff’s homicide detectives baffled as to the motive for the rampage.

Francisco Urias Uriarte, 30, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and possession of a controlled substance. He was being held without bail at the County Jail. An arraignment has been scheduled for Wednesday.

The late night shootings began at the Lanai apartment complex, located in the 8900 block of Delrose Avenue, where residents said Uriarte, a tenant there for several years, banged on several doors and fired a handgun, apparently yelling for his wife. About 10:30 p.m. he forced his way into John Alva’s apartment and opened fire, deputies said.

Killed in the gunfire were Nancy Jean Constantino, 36, and her husband, Jeffrey J. Constantino, 37, of San Diego, both of whom suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

The Constantinos were guests of Alva, 33, who was shot in the arm and abdomen and taken by Life Flight to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in good condition Friday.

‘Eyes Had Cold Stare’

Deputies said Uriarte then fled the apartment complex and, attempting to make his escape, shot another man.

“I was sitting in the garage listening to my police scanner,” said Tom Eberwein, a volunteer with the neighborhood crime watch program. “I heard noises and he came up over the fences across the street. I got up from my chair and stopped him in my driveway. I asked him what was going on.

“His eyes had a cold stare. His eyes were crazy. I could tell he’d lost it. When his arm moved, I could tell he had a gun. I sidestepped and that’s when he shot me. He turned and ran and then turned back to shoot me again. But then apparently changed his mind.”

Eberwein, 32, said he was shot once, the bullet passing through his right arm and grazing his chest. He was treated at Mercy Hospital.

Lt. Bill Baxter said sheriff’s deputies were waiting to talk to Alva to learn whether the shootings were random, or if Alva or the Constantinos were associates of Uriarte. And he said his office was awaiting crime lab analysis to determine whether Uriarte had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“We don’t know of any motive at this point as to why he burst into Alva’s apartment,” Baxter said. “We do know he burst in and started firing. I don’t think he was let in.”

One neighbor, Gloria Aguilar, said she was not home at the time of the shootings but that she last saw Uriarte on Tuesday, when he told her he was depressed because his wife was in the hospital undergoing kidney surgery.

Aguilar said Uriarte has a 10-year-old girl with kidney problems, an 8-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl.

“I don’t understand what happened,” she said. “He was a quiet and friendly man. It made me so sad.”

However, Aguilar said she was not surprised that Uriarte had a gun.

“My kid told me his little boy showed him where the father hid the gun under the bed, before this happened,” Aguilar said. “I always let my children play with his children, but I never let them go over there since.”

Another neighbor, Lidiette Worobey, said she didn’t think that Uriarte knew Alva.

“Maybe he went crazy,” Worobey said. “I saw him and his wife before sometimes, and every time they have problems, his wife goes to Tijuana” to see her family.

Worobey said she moved into the apartment complex last year from Costa Rica, and that now she is considering returning.

“I don’t like it here,” she said. She added that many of the apartment residents “don’t work and cause trouble.”

Eberwein said there has been numerous disturbances in the residential area, where the apartment complex is located near Elkelton Boulevard.

He said the neighborhood has had problems with prowlers and burglars and that he voluntarily sits in his garage at night, listening to his police scanner. He said he helped detain two thieves for police a couple of years ago. “I watch and see what’s going on,” he said. “Like a watchdog.”