2 Men Killed at Motel in Costa Mesa : Crime: Police say the shootings at the Bel Congo on Harbor Boulevard appeared to be gang-related. A third man was wounded.

Two men were shot to death and a third was wounded at a Harbor Boulevard motel early Saturday morning in what appeared to be a gang-related slaying, police said. Witnesses said the shootings may have been caused by a dispute at a late-night party in a motel room.

Police officers said they could not immediately identify any of the shooting victims, including the wounded man. All of the victims were young male Asians, police said.

Beckie Fisher, police community services officer, said the shooting was at the Bel Congo Motel, 2665 Harbor Blvd. She said police received a call at 2:55 a.m. Saturday about a “possible murder” at the motel.

Officers found one man dead at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell, Fisher said. Officers subsequently discovered that two others who had been shot were driven to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where one of them was pronounced dead on arrival, she said.

The third victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. He was treated and released, Fisher said.

Preliminary investigation found “no known motive” for the shootings, Fisher said.

But people at the motel on Saturday said the shooting appeared to have erupted after an argument between the youths in one of the motel rooms. They said the victims had been renting three rooms at the motel for about a week, during which there had been considerable “partying,” including early Saturday morning, just before the shooting.

One 40-year-old man staying in the 34-room motel said he was in bed, about to doze off, when he heard a commotion in an upstairs motel room, followed by “bang, bang, bang.”

“At first I thought someone was hitting a hammer or something,” the man said. He said that he then heard people arguing and shouting.

“I opened the door,” he said. “I expected to see a fight out there. . . . When I opened the door, I saw three or four Asian youths carrying a fellow down the stairs toward the parking lot.”

He said he looked down at the bottom of the stairs and saw a young man on the ground, near the swimming pool.

“I thought he had fallen down the stairs,” he said. “He looked injured.” The man was bleeding profusely from the mouth, he said.

He said he ran to the manager’s office in “near hysterics,” asking to call 911. He then ran back, got a pillow and a blanket for the victim, and tried to help him.

Another person at the motel, who asked not to be identified, said he saw a group of youths put two injured people into a car and then speed off.