2 Men Shot to Death After Argument at Westminster Store

Two men were methodically shot to death early Saturday morning outside a Westminster liquor store after they had argued inside with the gunman, police said.

Joe Steven Wilson, 22, and Wayne Spredlin, 20, were killed outside the Wine, Stein & Barrel liquor store in the 14500 block of Brookhurst Street at 12:40 a.m. Saturday by a middle-age Vietnamese man who police said was accompanied by two other men and a woman.

Late Saturday afternoon, Westminster police said a suspect had been arrested in the shootings. A police spokesman refused to release details of the arrest, saying only that the suspect’s identity would not be released until today.

Police have not determined a motive for the killings. But a witness who asked not to be identified said the victims had harassed the four well-dressed patrons inside the store and had followed them outside.

Police said the gunman shot one victim in the chest and head, then shot the other in a similar manner.

Westminster police spokesman Robert Armen said the four fled in a silver Mercedes-Benz and a brown Toyota van.

Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene from head and chest wounds, and Spredlin, who suffered similar wounds, died minutes later at the UC Irvine Medical Center.

According to the witness, Wilson and Spredlin had come to the store to buy liquor, but did not have enough money.

As they searched their pockets for the needed cash, they saw the other patrons make a $60 purchase, the witness said. One of the two men, he said, started harassing the other four customers over money and tried to block their exit from the store.

The four, he said, cooly walked past Wilson and Spredlin, who continued the insults but didn’t stop them from leaving.

Wilson and Spredlin followed the four outside the shop, where one of the four produced a handgun and started firing.

The first victim collapsed on a newspaper rack adjacent to the store and the other a few yards away.

Police said the shooting did not appear to be gang-related. Lt. Steve Martinez said execution-style killings are not solely the trademark of gangs or professional criminals. “If they were professionals, they would have killed them in one shot,” he said.

The killings were the city’s first homicides of 1988, Martinez said. Last year there were three.