Santa Ana Man, 21, Is Killed in Drive-By Shooting; No Suspects
A 21-year-old man was killed Sunday night in a drive-by shooting, but police said gangs did not appear to be involved in the attack.
Witnesses said a “prior confrontation” between the victim--Pio Ramos Perez of Santa Ana--and occupants of the passing vehicle led to the shooting, according to police. Authorities provided no details on the nature of the fight.
Perez and several friends had been outside drinking beer in the 600 block of South Parton Street in Santa Ana, said the victim’s sister-in-law, Maria Ramos of Santa Ana. Just before 9 p.m. Sunday, a vehicle approached the group and slowed down, police said.
“A series of shots were fired from the suspects’ vehicle,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Art Echternacht, and Perez was fatally struck at least once in the upper torso.
Investigators were still searching Monday for the occupants of the car, Echternacht said.
Ramos said Perez, a maintenance worker at a gardening shop, was not in a gang and that she did not know what might have caused the confrontation.
She said Perez came to this country five years ago from Mexico and that he had a 3-year-old daughter by an estranged wife.
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