Gunmen Fire on Stockton Group; 2 Dead, 7 Wounded

Two people were shot to death and at least seven others wounded early Sunday when gunmen opened fire from their cars into a liquor store parking lot, police said.

The shooting about 1:30 a.m. in south Stockton sent people running for cover. Some of them scaled barbed wire fences while others hid behind parked cars, witnesses said.

When officers arrived, they found at least six people wounded. Police said several others were taken to hospitals by private cars. There were unconfirmed reports that as many as 14 people were injured, but that some refused medical attention.

“There was some type of an altercation between some men over a young lady,” Police Sgt. Edward Williams told reporters. “Some of the fellows left and then subsequently returned with additional people, armed with what we believe at this time was a shotgun and a couple of rifles, and started firing on the people in the parking lot.”

Two men were arrested several hours after the shooting, but their names were not released.

Killed were James Guiterez Perez, 19, and Leobardo Barajas, 18.

Police said seven people were taken to six area hospitals. Three were in serious condition and four were in stable condition.

Witnesses said the assailants drove by in three cars and opened fire on the crowd of people, many of them customers of a taco wagon parked outside the liquor store.

“Everybody just started hiding and running,” witness Jeff Jones said. “I went right back to the house. All of a sudden everybody’s lights went out.

Jesus Sanchez said he was eating at the taco stand when he was hit in the abdomen.

“I didn’t have time to get scared,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “I felt something hot in my side. I reached down and I saw my hand covered in my blood. But I hid under a car until the firing stopped.”