Weekend Violence Leaves 2 Dead, 4 Hurt

A rash of shootings and stabbings in the San Diego area late Saturday and early Sunday left two persons dead and four wounded, police said.

The violence included another shooting in the dark canyons near the U.S.-Mexican border.

In addition, a major traffic accident on California 79 near Aguanga on the Riverside County line Sunday afternoon killed three people, the San Diego County coroner’s office reported. There were no other details available late Sunday.

An undocumented alien, Octavio Calderon, was shot once in the back as he walked along Old Monument Road about a half-mile north of the U.S.-Mexican border at 11:50 p.m. Saturday night, San Diego Police reported. Officers heard six shots in the 3200 block of Old Monument Road shortly before finding Calderon. He was taken by Life Flight helicopter to UCSD Medical Center, where he was reported in serious condition late Sunday.

Police reported that Leonardo Cabrera, 22, died at UCSD Medical Center early Sunday morning, after being shot three times about 10 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of 33rd Street in Southeast San Diego. His assailants were believed to be two men in a gray compact car. A police spokesman said witnesses told authorities that the shooting occurred during what appeared to be a drug transaction.

A second Latino man in his late teens or early 20s, who had not been identified by the coroner’s office, was killed by a single gunshot near the corner of 21st and Market streets about 1 a.m. Sunday by unknown attackers, the police spokesman said.

Five minutes later, an unidentified transvestite reportedly showed up at a store at 24th and Market streets with a single gunshot wound in the upper right arm. The spokesman said it was not clear whether the two shootings were related.

Just before midnight Saturday, Tilford Raven was found lying on the sidewalk near 48th and Market streets in Southeast San Diego with a stab wound, police said. Raven told police that several people “came out of nowhere” and stabbed him. The police spokesman said Raven was taken to Physicians & Surgeons Hospital, but an emergency room nurse refused to release any information Sunday concerning him.

In a second stabbing, Lane Johnson, 41, told police he was knifed in the left lower back by two men as he walked along Ocean View Boulevard in Southeast San Diego about 1 a.m. Johnson called police from his home in the 300 block of South 36th Street and was taken to UCSD Medical Center, where he was reported in fair condition Sunday.

In Escondido, police reported that 18-year-old Mariano Orozco was shot in the leg during a fight in the 500 block of north Grape Street shortly after 2 a.m. He was treated at Palomar Medical Center and released. No suspects have been arrested, police said.