Man Shot to Death in Irvine Office Parking Lot : Shooting: Fontana police capture suspect. One of several witnesses says, ‘It’s a horrifying experience to see something like that.’ Two others follow suspect.

Police captured a Fontana man suspected of shooting and killing a man at point-blank range in a parking lot in plain view of several people Wednesday afternoon, Irvine police said.

The victim, Willie Uy Jr., 34, of Irvine, died while en route to Irvine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police did not release his name because relatives had not been notified.

Aramis Jaranilla, 46, was arrested at his home by Fontana police, who were waiting for him. He had been identified through a license plate number called in by two witnesses, police said.

Police said they discovered a .38-caliber handgun inside the vehicle the suspect was driving.

Irvine Police Lt. Vic Thies said Uy had been helping move New York Life Insurance Co. into the ninth floor of the building at 7700 Irvine Center Drive. Police said he worked for the company.

He was walking to his 1991 Mercedes-Benz in the parking lot at 1 p.m. when a man approached him and shot him several times, Thies said.

“The suspect pulled out a handgun in front of numerous witnesses and fired at least three to four shots into the victim,” Thies said. “He began walking away, then turned around and fired at least one more shot into the victim.”

Two witnesses jumped into a car and followed the assailant, who fled in a Nissan pickup truck. The witnesses, whom police would not identify, followed the assailant on the Costa Mesa Freeway and used a cellular telephone to notify authorities.

Investigators believe that the suspect and the victim knew each other.

One witness, Christopher Davis, 31, was working when he looked out the window and saw one man with a black jacket pull out a gun and shoot another man who appeared to be getting into his car.

“The shooter shot the guy once, then began to run away. Then he stopped and came back and shot him a couple of more times,” Davis said. “He hopped into his car and drove off.”

Witnesses said they recognized the victim as a person who was helping an insurance company move into the complex. Employees at the insurance company, who were busy unpacking boxes Wednesday afternoon, declined to comment on the shooting.

Tracy Lloyd, a court reporter who was working in the office complex just for the day, was getting out of her car when the shooting occurred about 30 yards away.

“I heard the shots, so I turned around, and I saw the man with the gun in his hand,” Lloyd said. “We were facing each other, and our eyes met. My first instinct was to run because I was afraid that he was shooting randomly.”

Lloyd said she ran and hid behind a pillar until the gunman drove away. She said there was virtually no one else in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.

“It’s a horrifying experience to see something like this,” Lloyd added.

K.C. Heylin, who was doing some work at a law firm Wednesday, ran out to try to help the victim less than a minute after the shooting.

“He had no pulse,” Heylin said. “I tried to revive him for about five minutes before the police came, but it was too late. It makes you realize that life is so fragile.”

Other employees at the normally tranquil office complex also expressed shock after the shooting.

“I think it’s pretty spooky for this part of town,” said Julie King, a legal secretary. “We work here every day, and we all feel pretty scared. I just feel like going home.”

“It’s pretty much devastated the entire building,” Davis said. “Nothing like this, of any caliber, ever happens here.”

Police said it was the first slaying in Irvine this year. There were two murders in the city last year but none the previous two years, Thies said.

Jaranilla is being held at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder. No bail has been set, said jail authorities.