Another Shooting at Bar Leaves Man Dead

An unidentified man was found shot to death early Friday morning behind the Red Baron Bar, a small Santa Ana tavern that was the scene of a shooting spree three weeks ago.

Police found the body in a pool of blood about 1 a.m. in the parking lot behind the bar in the 1800 block of South Main Street, Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.

“He’s a John Doe right now. We don’t know who he is yet,” Thomas said. She described the victim as being in his early 20s.

Thomas said that bar employees and customers, who packed the bar near closing time and heard the gunshots but did not see the slaying, offered no clues to the man’s identity or who may have shot him.

But they gave homicide detectives a partial description of a vehicle that was seen leaving the bar about the time of the shooting.

“All they saw was a large-sized car that was driving away,” she said.

The death was the second violent incident in less than a month at the bar, a one-story establishment between St. Andrew Place and Edinger Avenue.

On Aug. 27, an unidentified gunman stuck a .25-caliber semiautomatic weapon through the front door of the bar and opened fire, seriously wounding five patrons.

Police have not identified a potential suspect or established a motive in that shooting.

Thomas said that because of the two shootings, police will step up surveillance in the area around the bar and watch the establishment closely.

“We are concerned about it enough so that we’re stepping up enforcement,” Thomas said. “We’re always concerned when we see a pattern like this developing.”

Thomas said that among other things, investigators will watch for customer overcrowding, an offense that allows police to temporarily shut down an establishment.

“It’s a tool we used in the past that enables us to close down the bar for one evening only,” Thomas said.

In addition, the two incidents will be considered when the bar’s business license is up for renewal. The bar was purchased in May. Owner Bok Sun Song was unavailable for comment.

“It’s rare for a (business) license to be pulled,” Thomas said. “But when it comes up for renewal, that’s when we can protest the license.”

Thomas nevertheless added that the two shootings were “not connected. . . . This was just a coincidence.”