STANTON : Drive-By Shooting Stirs Anger

A gang-related shooting that left four people wounded drew angry responses Wednesday from neighbors who have lived in the line of fire of a long-running gang feud.

“Wish they would just believe in God instead of taking each other’s lives,” said a 48-year-old woman who lives across the street from where the Tuesday night shooting took place and recalls at least four shooting attempts on the block in the past year.

“It’s gotten to the point where you can’t even stand out in the yard,” the resident said. “It’s terrible for all the mothers. I wish they’d stop before somebody else gets killed.”

One victim of the latest shooting was in “grave condition” at UCI Medical Center in Orange with a head wound, said Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas.

The 9:20 p.m. attack came almost a year to the day when a 17-year-old youth, who was being recruited by a local street gang, Big Stanton, was slain in a hail of bullets by members of La Colonia of Anaheim.

Four youths--all 15 years old--were eventually convicted of the July 21, 1990, killing, which occurred two blocks from the latest shooting incident. Tuesday’s attack occurred at the intersection of Rose and Central streets.

The four victims were walking together when a car drove slowly past the group, and someone inside opened fire, striking all four victims, witnesses said. The car sped away quickly. No words were exchanged before the shooting, witnesses said.

The victims were identified as: Manuel Medina, 16, shot in the head; Elvaristo Mujica, 17, struck in the lower back; Justin Trujillo, 24, hit in the right arm, and Alex Cedillo, 16, wounded in the left lower side.

Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas said he did not know if the four victims were involved in gang activity, nor did he know what prompted the shooting. Nonetheless, investigators consider it to be gang-related, Rivas said.

Mujica was in Long Beach Memorial Hospital in stable condition, Rivas said. Cedillo was being treated at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, Rivas said, and was also in stable condition.

Trujillo was taken to Humana Hospital-West Anaheim, treated and released.

On Wednesday morning, Trujillo, his right arm in a sling, pedaled his blue bicycle around the neighborhood, visiting friends.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Trujillo said, shrugging his shoulders as he walked out of a friend’s house. “It just happened.”

Neighbors said they were less than startled by the all-too-often sound of gunfire.

“I was in bed. I just heard the shots. Like four or five. That’s all. Bang, bang!” said Toni Cervantes, 50, a home-care nurse who has lived in this neighborhood all her life.

Cedillo’s 18-year-old sister, Gaby, 18, said her brother was hanging out with friends across the street just before the shooting occurred.

Cedillo was hit as he walked across the street from a neighbor’s house toward home, she said. After being hit, he managed to reach his home.

“He was crawling inside the house, trying to knock on the door to tell us he was shot,” Gaby Cedillo said. “But he was too excited to tell us what happened.”

Gaby Cedillo, who did not see the shooting, said her brother was not in a gang, but was “a nice kid who just doesn’t do very well in school.” Alex Cedillo is in ninth grade at a continuation school, she said.