Shots Fired From Truck Wound Two on Vista Street

Two men were wounded by rifle fire early Tuesday while standing among a group of men on a busy Vista street corner, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

Sheriff’s deputies continued their search Tuesday for four men traveling in a silver or gray pickup who are wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting.

Luis Sanchez, 20, was listed in good condition, and Rafael Pacheco, 22, was listed in serious condition at Palomar Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Sayre said.

Sanchez, who was taken to the hospital by Life Flight, had a gunshot wound in the left side of his chest, and Pacheco was taken by ambulance to the hospital with an abdominal wound, Sayre said.

The shooting occurred shortly before 7:30 a.m. on the corner of Postal Way and Santa Fe Place in Vista, said Sheriff’s Deputy Pearl Janulewicz. Sanchez and Pacheco were among six to eight men standing on the corner that is well known as a pickup spot for day laborers looking for work, she said.

Four men, described as light-skinned and in their early 20s, traveling in a silver or gray 1983 Mazda pickup with California license plates 2R75699, pulled up to the group and asked the men if they wanted work, Janulewicz said.

The men on the street corner declined the offer, and the truck drove off up the street, only to immediately turn around and come back, she said.

The two men sitting in the bed of the pickup, both armed with rifles, opened fire on the group, striking Sanchez and Pacheco, Janulewicz said. Everyone else in the group escaped injury.

Investigators believe the shooting was not gang-related, but robbery may have been a motive, Janulewicz said. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Deputy Mark Manriquez at the sheriff’s substation in Vista at 940-4551.