Two Shootings in Santa Ana Put 3 Victims Into Hospitals

Three people were wounded in two separate shootings in Santa Ana early Monday, and one victim could lose an eye, police said.

A security guard and a patron of the Piccolo Club were shot in front of a bar at 1:35 a.m. by an angry customer, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Collie Provence said.

The shooting, which took place in the 2200 block of West 1st Street, occurred after the guard, Rosario Jose Ledesma, 48, of Orange, and his partner, Joe Cabrera Palomares, 30, of Anaheim, had spotted two patrons trying to leave through a rear exit, Provence said.

Palomares told police that the two patrons argued with him and Ledesma, then left through the bar’s front door.

The men, described as Latinos in their middle 30s, got into a white car in a nearby parking lot, then drove by the club, Provence said.

The driver then fired several shots, striking Ledesma in the upper chest and a customer, Gloria Hernandez May, 36, of Garden Grove, in the temple, Provence said.

Both were taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where surgeons worked to save May’s eye. Word on her condition was not immediately available. Ledesma was listed in good condition.

In an unrelated incident, police answered a report of gunfire in the 1000 block of West Bishop Street at 12:54 a.m., where they found a man identified as Rene Contreras, 26, lying in front of his apartment building.

Provence said witnesses told police they had heard Contreras arguing with another man before the shooting.

Contreras, who was shot three times in the upper torso, was transported to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he was listed in critical condition. Hospital officials said relatives gave a different name for him--Jose Navaro.

Provence said that investigators have no suspects in either case but that the shootings are not believed to be related to gangs.