2 Young Men Shot on Beach at Aliso Pier : Violence: A peaceful gathering of 16- to 19-year-olds was harassed by a pair of older men. Two in the group were wounded, one critically.

Two men harassed a peaceful group of teen-agers at a campfire next to Aliso Pier on Saturday night, and when confronted by several of the youths, shot two of them, critically injuring one, police reported.

The shooting “was a totally senseless attempted murder,” Police Sgt. Ray Lardie said.

He said the gunman fired at the two youths as they were walking away from an argument about water balloons being tossed on the teen-agers from the cliff above Aliso Pier beach.

Names of the two victims were not released. Lardie said that one, a 19-year-old man from Ontario, was shot in the head and back. He was “in extremely critical condition” at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, officials said.

The other victim, a 19-year-old man from Upland, was shot in the arm and was treated at South Coast Medical Center here, Lardie said.

Lardie described the suspects as Latinos with short, slicked-back hair. One is about 5 feet 7, weighing 180 pounds and the other is about 5 feet 10 and weighs about 180 pounds.

They fled in a 1970s-era white sedan, police reported.

The argument began about 9:35 p.m. after the older men threw water balloons at a dozen teen-agers on the beach, Lardie said.

Those on the beach, all aged 16 through 19, he said, “were having a very peaceful gathering around a campfire, with no alcohol, drinking only juices and soda.”

“Two of the kids went up the hill to confront the balloon throwers . . . ,” Lardie said.

“After a couple of minutes, the rest of the group around the campfire came up the hill also. Words were exchanged,” and after one of the Latinos was “thrown to the ground,” one of the two older men pulled a knife.

Lardie said the group of teen-agers “backed off” after the knife was displayed. “They all started leaving and walking back down the hill to the campfire,” when one of the older men “started shooting with a handgun,” Lardie said.

“The kids were walking away when the shooting started, and it was totally senseless,” Lardie added.

He said that one of the suspects fired three shots from a .380-caliber handgun. Then both assailants ran to their car, parked along the cliff on Coast Highway above Aliso Pier, and fled.

Police asked anyone who might have witnessed the incident to contact Police Investigator Ron Sapp at (714) 497-0377.