Man in Santa Ana Parking Lot Killed in Apparent Gang Attack
A 19-year-old Anaheim man was killed in a parking lot Sunday night in what police described as a gang-related shooting.
Victor Mendoza was standing in the lot at 2400 S. Bristol St. with a group of friends when a car drove by, then returned and stopped, said Sgt. Bob Clark of the Santa Ana Police Department.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Sept. 22, 1993 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday September 22, 1993 Orange County Edition Metro Part B Page 2 Column 4 Metro Desk 2 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Santa Ana homicides--Articles Sept. 16 and 21 on the rising rate of homicides in Santa Ana used inaccurate statistics supplied by police. A spokesman said that as of Tuesday there had been 58 willful homicides, 32 of them gang-related. There were a record 59 homicides in 1991.
One of the car’s occupants got out and fired three shots at Mendoza and his friends. One bullet hit Mendoza in the back as he tried to run away, Clark said.
Mendoza was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he later died, Clark said.
Police said Mendoza was a gang member. They have no suspects.
Sunday’s shooting was the city’s 60th homicide this year, breaking the record of 59 set in 1991.
But Police Chief Paul M. Walters said two of this year’s slayings were not criminal homicides. One man, a suspected robber, was killed by his intended victim, and another died in an officer-involved shooting, Walters said.
Police said 30 of the cases this year involved gang victims, suspects or both. Last year, 22 of the total 58 homicides were gang-related.
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