3 Wounded by Gunman at Park in Santa Ana

Three men playing volleyball at a park were shot and wounded Wednesday night when a gunman opened fire apparently without provocation, police said.

All three victims were in their early 30s. They were taken to nearby hospitals, but police said their wounds did not appear to be life-threatening.

Police Sgt. Joe Kahapea said the shooting occurred just before 9 p.m. at the volleyball courts at Memorial Park on Flower Street.

Kahapea said six men were playing volleyball when a man walked up to the fence around the courts and opened fire. Witnesses said he fired seven or eight rounds.

“He stood at the fence, took out the gun and started shooting,” said one man, who declined to give his name. “Everyone started running.”

Kahapea said one victim was shot in the arm; a second was shot in the thigh; the most seriously wounded was shot in the upper body, either in the abdomen or chest. None of the victims was identified.

Kahapea said it was too early to say whether the shooting was gang-related.

Meanwhile, police were searching for suspects in the drive-by shooting of Joseph J. Castorena, 17, who was wounded Tuesday evening while sitting in his car at a residential intersection in Santa Ana.

Castorena was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange and was recovering after undergoing surgery Tuesday night, hospital officials said. His condition was not released at the request of his family.

Castorena, of Santa Ana, was at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and 5th Street when he was shot by occupants in a passing car about 7:30 p.m., Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Haacker said.