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Driver Shot in Santa Ana; Trio Detained, Freed

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

A young motorist was wounded in the head Thursday evening by shots fired from a car that apparently was pursuing him, police said.

Soon afterward, in a dramatic confrontation, police held two men and a woman at gunpoint after the three drove by the scene of the shooting. They were questioned, but not arrested, and then were released. Police later said they had no suspects in the attack.

The drive-by shooting occurred at about 5:15 p.m. at Daisy Avenue and Walnut Street. Police Sgt. Dennis Rios said a maroon Ford Mustang had been chased north on Daisy by a car whose occupants were firing out the window.

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The driver of the Mustang was apparently wounded in the head and pulled over on Walnut. The assailants--as many as six people, according to witnesses--fled in their car down a side street.

Neighbors helped the victim out of the car, which had a jagged hole in its rear windshield, and brought the man to a local fire station, Rios said.

As onlookers stood by and police interviewed witnesses, including a woman who said she had been a passenger in the Mustang, a tan Chevrolet Impala passed. Police, suspecting that the Impala may have been involved in the shooting, gave chase.

With sirens blaring, police sped after the Impala and caught up with it less than three blocks away at 1st and Forest streets in the parking lot of a convenience store.

As some officers stopped oncoming traffic on 1st Street and others took up positions behind their squad cars--guns trained on the Impala--the occupants of the car were told to raise their hands and come out one at a time.

A man in a black T-shirt and blue jeans was the first to emerge and walked backwards slowly toward police with his hands in the air. He was followed by a woman and then another man.

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Police said they found no weapons on the three, who were ushered into squad cars. Two officers then carefully opened the trunk of the Impala, which was empty.

“No arrests were made in the incident,” Lt. Chuck Magdalena said. “We thought we had a suspect, but we didn’t.”

The shooting victim, who was identified as Jose Lorenzo, 19, of Santa Ana, was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he was reported in good condition. It was not clear how many occupants were in his car at the time of the shooting.

Police said late Thursday that a black Cadillac found abandoned and burned in Fullerton may have been the car used in the shooting.

Sgt. Rios said preliminary indications showed that the shooting may have been drug-related. An investigation is continuing.

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