Shots From Car Hit Boy; 2 Arrested

A 13-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting Friday evening when two suspects in a passing car reportedly opened fire into a crowd of youths on the city’s west side, police said.

The wounded youth, not identified by authorities, suffered a single gunshot wound in his lower right leg during the 5:30 p.m. incident in the 1000 block of West Myrtle Street, police said. The youth’s wound was not believed to be serious, and he was in stable condition Saturday.

The two suspects in the case, both Santa Ana teen-agers, were arrested a short time after the incident when police tracked a vehicle matching the description given at the scene to Baker and Bishop streets.

Police said Caeser Caldera, 19, and a 16-year-old boy, whose identity was withheld because he is a juvenile, were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Sgt. Eric Vedborg said a semiautomatic handgun was recovered during the arrest and he believed the shooting was related to gang activity. Witnesses told police that the suspects fired six to 10 rounds into the gathering outside a home on West Myrtle Street.