Gunfire Across Santa Ana Kills 2, Wounds 4 : Violence: Four early morning attacks span 2 hours in the already-beleaguered city. About 300 shell casings are found after 1 shootout.

The county’s largest city erupted in gunfire early Saturday morning when four separate shootings left two men dead, a third near death and a residential street riddled with shell casings, indicating that more than 300 rounds were fired in what police believe was a gang fight.

Police made no arrests and had no suspects in the shootings, Sgt. Dick Faust said.

Beginning just before 1 a.m., the four shootings occurred in a span of two hours and were scattered across two square miles of the city of about 293,000 people.

Police believe that at least two of the shootings were gang-related. Santa Ana, the county’s most populous city, has already this year broken its all-time murder record of 59, set in 1991. About half of the homicides are believed to be gang-related.

“I don’t know what gets into people nowadays. It seems like all they want to do is carry a gun,” said City Councilman Ted R. Moreno. “It’s ridiculous.”

Police Chief Paul M. Walters and Mayor Daniel H. Young could not be reached for comment Saturday.

The two fatal shootings occurred about one minute and two miles apart.

According to police, Miguel Angel Soto, 26, of Santa Ana was driving north on Standard Avenue about 1:45 a.m. and his vehicle was bumped from behind while stopped at the traffic light at Standard and Edinger avenues.

Soto and the driver of the white vehicle that allegedly hit him had an argument and both pulled over at a gas station near the intersection, police said. While Soto remained in his car, the other driver shot Soto five times, killing him. An unidentified woman was reportedly in Soto’s car and ran away after the shooting.

Several dozen blocks west on Edinger, a botched robbery attempt left another man dead.

Three Santa Ana residents--Lionel Allaras, 37, Bernardino Gaytan, 23, and the 33-year-old homicide victim who was not identified pending notification of his family--were drinking beer near Gaytan’s car at 1400 S. Townsend St. when two armed men approached them and ordered them to lay on the street and hand over their wallets, Faust said.

One suspect had a handgun and the other had a knife, Faust said.

Allaras got on the ground, but the 33-year-old man grabbed the gunman’s arm, and Gaytan grabbed the other suspect’s knife. The struggle ended with the 33-year-old shot dead and the attackers running westward from the scene, Faust said.

Police believe the two men were each about 20, 5-foot-5 and weighed 120 to 130 pounds. Both were dressed in white T-shirts and black pants, and one was wearing a Chicago White Sox cap, Faust added.

It was about an hour later, just before 3 a.m., that an off-duty husband-and-wife team of uniformed private security guards witnessed a gunfight in which more than 300 rounds were fired, Faust said.

James Howlin, 37, and Toni Howlin, 35, both of Santa Ana, were at a drive-through restaurant at 2100 S. Bristol St. when they heard gunshots, Faust said. The couple spotted two cars exchanging fire, and followed one of them across the city to 2100 W. 7th St., where the car stopped and four people appeared in the street, toting guns, Faust said.

As the Howlins sat in their truck, the two groups shot at each other, leaving shell casings from shotguns and semiautomatic weapons at the scene, Faust said. The Howlins’ pickup was pummeled by bullets and James Howlin was shot in the right foot while Toni caught shotgun pellets to her arm and suffered wounds from glass in her face.

Both were treated and released from Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana on Saturday.

“They were real lucky,” Faust said. “There were a lot of guns out there.”

Jesus Ramirez, 34, who lives with his four children and wife at the end of the cul-de-sac where the hail of gunfire took place, said he was asleep when he heard the shooting.

“I grabbed my wife and threw her on the ground. Then I ran to my children’s room to get them to safety,” said Ramirez. “It was horrible. The shooting lasted forever.”

Another neighbor, who refused to give his name, said it was the second time that there was shooting on the street.

“This time was much worse,” he said. “It was like a war. The gangs are going crazy here.

Saturday morning’s gunfire across the city began two hours earlier when three young men from Orange were ambushed while sitting in their car in what police are investigating as a gang-related shooting.

Felipe Estrada, 22, Joseph Gonzales, 21, and Ronald Schmitz, 23, were driving in the 900 block of W. Berkeley Street when they encountered several people standing in the street, according to police reports. One of those people fired several shots into the vehicle, which Schmitz was driving, hitting Schmitz and critically wounding Estrada in the neck.

Estrada underwent surgery and was in critical condition at Coastal Communities Hospital.

Schmitz was in stable condition at an area hospital Saturday. Gonzales was uninjured.

Councilman Moreno, who represents southeastern Santa Ana, where several of the shootings occurred, said he is baffled at the growing violence and wished residents would get a respite.

He also expressed confidence that if the city builds its own jail facility for misdemeanor offenders, it will make the streets safer.

Currently, Santa Ana books suspects into the Orange County Jail, which has no space for those arrested on minor offenses.

“Until you get some of these small crimes off the street, it creates an environment of larger crime: If they know they can get away with the little stuff, they know . . . they can get away with bigger stuff,” Moreno said. “We have enough police, the only problem is they’re too busy concentrating their efforts in certain areas. . . .”

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Times staff writer David A. Avila contributed to this report.