Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Man Fatally Shot; Pal Wounded; Gang Blamed

An 18-year-old man was fatally shot and a teen-aged friend wounded, apparently by gun-toting gang members, as the victims drove through a crime-ridden neighborhood early Monday, police said.

Two other teen-age boys riding in the same car were struck by flying glass from the shattered car window during the 1:30 a.m. shooting in the 1400 block of West Highland Street, said Maureen Thomas, a Santa Ana Police Department spokeswoman.

“We believe that the suspects involved, and some of the victims, are gang members,” Thomas added. “That’s why we believe this is gang-related.”

The 18-year-old Santa Ana victim, identified by police as Pedro Sanchez, was pronounced dead Monday afternoon at an area hospital where he had been placed on life supports.

Thomas said the other shooting victim--a 17-year-old Santa Ana resident whose name was withheld because he is a juvenile--was wounded in the upper and lower torso. He remained hospitalized in stable condition, Thomas said. The other two boys, whose names also were withheld by police, were treated by paramedics at the scene for minor glass cuts.

As the four young men rode in their Buick Regal along Highland Street--near the intersection of Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue--they were “confronted by several male (Latinos),” Thomas said. The Buick apparently slowed or stopped, and the two groups clashed in an argument.

Four or five shots were then fired “at pretty close range” into the Buick by at least one of the gang members--maybe more, Thomas said. The suspects fled the neighborhood on foot.

An investigation is continuing.