STANTON : Saturday Shooting Claims 2nd Victim

A Westminster man was pronounced brain-dead and was taken off life-support systems on Tuesday, becoming the second person to die as the result of a weekend shooting at an apartment complex here. A third man remains hospitalized.

Sheriff’s deputies investigating the Saturday night shooting have no suspects in custody, Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

The shooting occurred after four men entered Son Van Tran’s apartment during a party and two men began shooting indiscriminately, witnesses said.

The attack reportedly followed a fight over a woman in the apartment a week before.

Ba Va Tran, 20, of Westminster died Monday of a gunshot wound in the head, according to the county coroner’s office. Chien Kuan Nguyen, 22, of Stanton died Sunday after being shot in the head, investigators said.

Meanwhile, Son Tran was hospitalized with a bullet wound in the neck.

The three victims met during the past year while taking English classes at St. Anselm’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Center in Garden Grove, according to Hong X. Nguyen, a pastor at the center. The three men arrived from Vietnam about a year ago and had asked Hong Nguyen for help in finding work.

Giang Tran, a friend of the three victims who was present during the shooting, said the gunmen knew the victims socially. The two groups had reportedly been feuding for a week, since one of the alleged gunmen had made advances toward Son Tran’s wife.