Man, 2 Youths Shot in Gunfire at Newport Pier

Two teen-agers and a man shielding his wife and baby from gunfire were wounded at the Newport Beach Pier after an argument among teen-agers turned into gunfire early Sunday, police said.

None of the wounds was considered life-threatening, said Newport Beach police Sgt. Andy Gonis. A 16-year-old gang member was arrested for attempted murder, he added.

Witnesses said the shootings shortly before 3 a.m. touched off a panic at the crowded pier. Frightened onlookers jumped off the pier into the ocean. Others screamed and fled. Some climbed over the railing and clung to it, hanging over the water as the suspect fired indiscriminately, witness Frank Marin said.

The wounded man, a 37-year-old Moreno Valley resident who was fishing with his wife and child, was hit in the back, Gonis said. Two other victims, a 14-year-old from Temple City and 15-year-old from Monterey Park, were hospitalized with gunshot wounds to their legs. The identities of the teen-age victims and suspect were not released. The teen-ager, who told police he was a gang member, is a runaway whose last known address was in Westminster, Gonis said.

“I was about five feet away when he started shooting,” said Marin, 25, of Ontario, who was night fishing at the pier. “He didn’t care who he shot. The guy was shooting the gun everywhere. It was crazy.”