2 at Party Shot to Death; Police Seek 2 Suspects : Shootout: Reason for argument unknown, but officers say no gang link is indicated.

Two men were killed late Saturday during a shootout outside a raucous house party when several guests began firing at each other with handguns, police said.

Police said it was still unclear Sunday what precipitated the argument between the victims and two other party guests who are being sought as suspects in the shooting. However, “the argument escalated and shots were fired--possibly from both sides,” Sgt. Eric Vedborg said.

The victims in the 11:35 p.m. shootings were identified as Ernestito Ortiz, 37, and Alfonso Palacios, 28, whose addresses are unknown. One of the suspects is also believed to have been wounded by gunfire, police said.

There had been no arrests late Sunday, and authorities declined to discuss a possible motive for the violence. Police said the suspects fled the scene after the shooting in a “dark-colored vehicle.”

“It’s going to be a lengthy investigation because we still have several witnesses to interview,” Vedborg said. “No one is in custody, but the suspects were also guests at the party so they are known.”

The residents of 2406 W. Mark St., where the shooting occurred, refused to discuss the incident Sunday. However, the blood-stained asphalt and a discarded paramedic’s glove served as grisly reminders of the violence the night before.

On Sunday, residents gathered in clusters, whispering about the gunfire that jarred many awake just before midnight. Some complained that gunshots have become all too common an occurrence in this western Santa Ana neighborhood.

“This happens around here every day now,” said one angry resident who declined to be identified. “It’s nothing new.”

Police say there is nothing to indicate that this most recent shooting is gang-related, as are most others in the neighborhood. However, assurances by police that the two latest killings were isolated acts rather than part of an overall trend in gang violence has done little to allay residents’ fears.

On Sunday, several residents recounted the series of events that led up to the shooting.

“There was a whole bunch of people parked everywhere,” said a neighbor who declined to be identified. “I heard a bunch of yelling, then heard about three shots.”

When he looked out the window a short while later, the neighbor said, he saw one bloodied man in the front yard and another man sprawled in the passenger seat of a red Pontiac Trans Am. Soon, he said, frightened guests created a stampede as they began running to their cars to leave the party.

Another resident, who also declined to be identified, said he had been partying with some friends across the street from where the shooting occurred when he saw a man standing near the corner, aiming a handgun.

“He was standing in the middle of the street shooting at the (Pontiac), “ the man said. “There was another guy dead over by the fence” in the front yard, he said.

The pandemonium continued, the witnesses and police said, even as paramedics arrived and attempted to determine who needed medical attention. A man who neighbors said had passed out drunk in the back seat of the Pontiac Trans Am was mistaken for one of the wounded.

“When the paramedics got there they ripped off all of his clothes and looked all over his body but couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him,” Sgt. Vedborg said. “Then they found out that he was in a drunken stupor. He was so drunk that he had slept through the whole shooting.”