1 Dead, 6 Wounded in Drive-By Shooting Along Trolley Line

A drive-by shooting left one person dead and six others wounded shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday at Commercial and Evans streets along the San Diego Trolley’s East Line route through Southeast San Diego.

San Diego Police Lt. Paul Ybarrondo said that a group of twenty youths were standing near an apartment house on Commercial Street when a yellow car, described as a Mustang or a Maverick, came around the corner from Evans Street, and began shooting at the crowd.

Ybarrondo said that police are not certain that the shootings were gang related.

“They could have been drug-related because there was known drug trafficking activity in the neighborhood,” Ybarrondo said.

He said a young male was dead at the scene when paramedics arrived.

Ybarrondo said that there are no suspects in custody, but witnesses to the shooting are being questioned.

The weapons may have been small caliber handguns and possibly shotguns, Ybarrondo said.

Lt. Tom Orden said that the drive-by shooting wounded a 7-year-old boy who was caught in the cross-fire. The child was taken to Children’s Hospital with three bullet wounds and is not believed to be in serious condition, Orden said. Homicide detectives at the scene said witnesses told them that two cars were involved in the drive-by shooting but it was unclear if the targets of the attack were on the street or whether the occupants of the two vehicles were firing at each other.

The shooting scene a block south of Imperial Avenue in the 2700 block of Commercial Street was closed off by police for more than an hour, holding up trolley traffic along the line from downtown San Diego to El Cajon. Police said that there were no indications that trolley passengers or personnel were involved in the shooting.

Another shooting near 51st and Polk streets that injured one person about half an hour before the Commercial Street attack may have been related, Orden said.

Three males, including two teen-agers, 17 and 19, who were wounded in the Commercial Street shooting were taken to UCSD Medical Center, where they were all scheduled to undergo surgery Saturday night. A hospital spokeswoman said that two of the shooting victims were in serious condition and the third in fair condition.