Teen Hurt in 1st Drive-By Shooting in Mission Viejo

In what appears to be the first drive-by shooting ever here, a 17-year-old walking to his girlfriend’s house was shot in the leg Sunday evening, the Sheriff’s Department said Monday.

Julio Meza was in fair condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center after the shooting.

He was near his girlfriend’s home in the 25000 block of Adriana Street about 5 p.m when a carload of youths passed by, yelled gang slogans, fired several shots at him and sped off, Lt. Bill Leonard said.

“To my recollection, there’s never been a drive-by shooting in Mission Viejo before,” Leonard said.

Police have no reason to believe Meza is a gang member, he said.

Meza’s girlfriend, 18-year-old Amy Gevairgian, said she did not know why anyone would want to shoot him and that he is not in a gang.

“He comes over here all the time to be with me and our baby,” a 2 1/2-week-old boy, she said. “He’s not a troublemaker.”

Meza has been such a regular face at the Gevairgian home that several neighbors said they thought he lived there.

Amy Gevairgian, who was in Long Beach visiting her grandmother when the shooting took place, was reached there by sheriff’s deputies, she said.

“I freaked out at first until they told me he was OK,” Gevairgian said. “Then I calmed down 100%.”

She immediately went to Mission Hospital, she said, and found Meza dazed from medication.

“He didn’t need for me to be asking him what happened or why he was shot,” Gevairgian said.

Her father, John Gevairgian, said Meza lives in Mission Viejo and is “a good boy.”

“They’re too young to get married,” he said. “We want them to go to college. (Meanwhile) Julio can come over and visit.”

Amy Gevairgian is enrolled in the Mira Monte Alternative Education Program in Mission Viejo, an independent study school run by the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. Meza does not go to school and is looking for a job, she said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Randy Blair, chief of police service for Mission Viejo, said preliminary information indicates the shooting is an isolated incident, and is not indicative of any deeper gang-related problems in the city.

“This is not something that has been bubbling below the surface,” he said.

Other city officials said they were alarmed to hear about the crime, but also believe it was not the start of a pattern.

“Unfortunately, these types of youth crimes know no boundaries,” Mission Viejo Councilwoman Susan Withrow said. “I don’t think it’s the beginning of a larger problem.”

Statistics show that though violent crime by youths under 18 has increased 44.6% in Orange County over the past decade, drive-by shootings by youths still are rare in South County.

Monday morning, some of the residents on the quiet cul-de-sac gathered on a sidewalk to discuss the shooting.

Neil Donat, 17, said the drive-by shooting brings Mission Viejo into the real world.

“Violence is everywhere,” he said. “And it’s coming here.”

But another neighbor was more optimistic.

“It’s very calm here so this is a surprise,” she said. “But I’m not really scared. Violence is still a rare thing here.”