Five Wounded in Shooting at Santa Ana Bar

An unknown man armed with a semiautomatic handgun sprayed a neighborhood pub with bullets early Monday, wounding five patrons, police said.

Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said the five men were inside the Red Baron Bar, a small, narrow saloon in the 1800 block of South Main Street, when a gunman carrying a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun reportedly flung open the front door just after midnight.

“He just stuck his hand inside the door and started shooting randomly at the patrons inside,” Thomas said.

Investigators have no suspects yet, she said, and they are puzzled as to a motive.

“It doesn’t appear to be robbery or anything like that,” Thomas said. “We are trying to determine whether he had been in the bar earlier.”

The bar, which was purchased May 1 by Bok Sun Song and sells only beer and wine, was crowded at the time of the shooting, and five or six employees were working, said Song’s brother-in-law, who declined to be identified.

All of the victims are expected to recover, although at least three were seriously wounded, hospital officials said.

Steven M. Sayles, 38, of Colton was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he underwent surgery for a bullet wound to his stomach.

Jorge Guardado, 25, and Francisco Munoz, 29, both of Santa Ana, were taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, hospital spokeswoman Fran Tardiff said.

Guardado was reported in serious condition with two gunshot wounds to his stomach, Tardiff said. Munoz was listed in fair condition, she said, also suffering from a bullet wound, but she did not know where he had been shot.

Fillimon Covarubias, 21, of Santa Ana was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where he was admitted with a bullet wound to his stomach, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Gasho said. He was listed in serious but stable condition.

Juan Ruvio, 42, of Santa Ana was also wounded, but police said they were unable to determine where he was being treated.

The state Alcohol Beverage Control Department has no record of recent trouble at the bar.

City and police records for the last few years show only an arrest for assault with a deadly weapon at the location several years ago, Thomas said.

The establishment remained closed on Monday while employees cleaned up and straightened out the bar.

“We need to get some semblance of order around here so we can open tomorrow,” the owner’s brother-in-law said.

He said that employees could offer little information to police because the armed assailant--by remaining outside the establishment when he fired and then fleeing the scene--did not allow anyone to see his face.

“We don’t know anything more than the police know right now,” the man said. “They are not really able to say much to anybody.”