Man Slain, 2 Hurt at Stanton Party; Gunman Sought

A Halloween party here erupted in gunfire early Sunday, with one young man killed and two wounded, the county Sheriff’s Department said.

An unidentified man at the party began shooting after watching two young men punching each other, authorities said. The gunman fled after the shootings and was being sought.

A 19-year-old Santa Ana man died at UCI Medical Center in Orange about five hours after the 12:30 a.m. incident. The victim, whose identify was not immediately released, suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body.

Lt. Richard J. Olson, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, identified the injured men as Bardo Gomez, 22, of Santa Ana, in critical condition at UCI Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the upper body; and Steven Thornton, 18, of Huntington Beach, who was treated for a wound to the lower thigh at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, then released.

“Sixty to 70 people were holding a costume Halloween party” at 7841 Santa Gertrudes Ave., Olson said, when a fight broke out in the back yard between the slain 19-year-old and another, unidentified male. “The suspect, who was watching the fight, pulled out a gun and shot (the 19-year-old) and Gomez,” Olson said.

“The suspect then ran down (by) the side of the house and started to run down the street, with several people chasing him.

“The suspect turned and shot Thornton in the lower thigh. The witnesses ran back to the party house, and the suspect disappeared down the street.”

Olson said the Sheriff’s Department on Sunday had no description of the man who fired the gun, including no age estimate.

“The shooting is still under investigation, and we are trying to develop suspect information and determine if the shooting is gang-related,” Olson said.

In a brief telephone interview on Sunday, Dolores Gonzales, 20, who lives at the Santa Gertrudes house with her family, said it was she who was holding the Halloween party.

Gonzales said she was inside at the time of the shooting and did not see it.

She said she heard shots in fast succession outside. “The sound was too fast to be firecrackers,” she said. “There was one after another.”