SANTA ANA : 22-Year-Old Killed in Gang-Related Melee

A gang fight involving at least 15 people armed with belts, bottles and a knife ended late Saturday when a 22-year-old man was mortally wounded in the head by rifle fire, police reported.

Sgt. Jim McDaniel, a police spokesman, said Javier P. Avila of Santa Ana died about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, hours after a man armed with a .22-caliber rifle began firing into a melee that police described as gang-related. No arrests had been made.

The incident began about 10 p.m. Saturday when suspected gang members attacked Mario Hernandez, 21, as he walked home from a 7-Eleven Store at Fairview Street and McFadden Avenue.

McDaniel said Hernandez, who returned home and told his family and friends about the incident, later returned to the 2500 block of McFadden with Avila, his brother Sam, and another person to avenge the earlier assault.

“About 10 to 12 suspects attacked the group with belts, bottles and a knife on the north sidewalk of McFadden,” McDaniel said. “Then, another subject approached with a .22-caliber rifle and began firing.”

Avila was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:28 a.m. Sam Avila, 20, was stabbed in the upper back, and Hernandez received a blow to the head. Neither injury required hospitalization, police said.