2 Girls Hit in Santa Ana by Shot Fired From Car

Two 15-year-old girls were shot and slightly injured a block from Santa Ana High School Friday when they were caught in a dispute between rival youths in two cars, police said.

One girl, a freshman student on lunch break from the high school, was treated and released for a superficial arm wound at United Western Medical Center-Santa Ana. She was reported able to walk to the ambulance. The other, whom police and school officials said they could not readily identify as a student, was treated at the scene for a minor scalp wound.

The girls--whose names were being withheld because of their ages--were injured by the same bullet, police said.

“They were very lucky and we’re glad about that,” said Diane Thomas, spokeswoman for the Santa Ana Unified School District.

The incident occurred about 12:50 p.m. at the corner of Pine and Garnsey streets, about 10 minutes before the end of the scheduled lunch break at Santa Ana High School, at Walnut and Ross streets.

The injured teen-agers were standing in a group of four girls, when two cars pulled up containing two young men each and the men began arguing with one another, Santa Ana police and witnesses said. School officials said the young men were not recognized as being Santa Ana High School students.

Missed Apparent Target

An occupant in one car fired at least one round from an unknown-caliber handgun at the occupants of the second car, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Rick Hicks said. The bullet missed its apparent target and instead hit the two girls, one of whom who was standing nearby on the sidewalk, Hicks said.

Hicks said the shooting did not appear to be gang-related. Residents, however, said the low-income neighborhood where the shooting took place has been plagued with gang activity in the past.

Police later investigated a report that the gunman was in a house on 7th Street. The building was surrounded and checked but no one was found.

A woman living on Garnsey Street said she saw the four young girls sitting on the lawn of an apartment complex at the corner of Garnsey and Pine streets just before the shooting happened.

“The kids were out on lunch break,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. “They were just sitting there.”

The woman said she turned away to answer a telephone, and short time later heard a popping sound. “It thought it was a firecracker, because they (Latino residents of the area) are celebrating Cinco de Mayo,” she said. “Then I saw the police car and the ambulance. Two of the girls were hurt.”

After the shooting, security police at the high school kept students inside. Principal Andy Hernandez said he ordered teachers to hustle the student body of about 2,800 as quickly as possible between classes for the rest of the school day, which ended at 2:45 p.m. At 3 p.m., Hernandez held a briefing for his teachers about the shooting.

“The key thing is the safety of the students,” Hernandez said. “Luckily, it (the shooting) was right in an in-between period” when there weren’t so many students around.

Thomas added that district officials were “making an effort to let all teachers know that (the girl wounded in the arm) is going to be OK, in case students are concerned about her.”

‘Isolated Incident

Some students interviewed Friday said teachers were more upset about the shooting than they were. Said Genny Siri, 17: “I look at this as an isolated incident. Although we have a bad reputation, nothing bad ever happens here.”

Siri’s sister, Dareen Siri, 15, said talk among students on campus was that the girl who had been shot in the arm was the girlfriend of the young man for whom the bullet was intended. Police would not confirm or deny that, however.

A 17-year-old student who asked that his name be withheld said violent incidents happen so frequently around the school that many students accept them as normal.

“You get used to it,” he said. “If you went to Beverly Hills, it would be unusual.”

He added that he doesn’t worry too much about being hurt. “You could get hit walking across the street,” he said.

The shooting dampened an otherwise festive day at the campus, which was festooned with balloons and ribbons commemorating Cinco de Mayo. Many of the female students wore colorful Mexican dresses. Cinco de Mayo was the latest in a weeklong celebration of ethnic backgrounds held as part of the school’s International Week.