Santa Ana Teen Is First Gang-Related Homicide of Year : Violence: Reputed gang member’s body found with gun in his pocket next to railroad tracks. People nearby had heard shots but didn’t call police.

A 17-year-old who was found shot to death a few feet away from the Santa Fe railroad tracks early Tuesday morning may have become the county’s first gang-related homicide of 1994, police said.

Siriaco Gonzalez was shot once in the right side of his head and once in the left side of his body at close range, said Santa Ana police Lt. Robert Helton. He died at the scene, Helton said.

“It appears that there was some kind of confrontation on the railroad tracks between the victim and whoever shot him,” Helton said. “But what the circumstances are surrounding the shooting, we don’t know.”

Gonzalez, a reputed gang member who was found with a loaded .22-caliber handgun in his front shirt pocket, had apparently been dead for at least two hours before police were called to the scene in the 300 block of E. Adams Street at 9:35 a.m.

Neighbors and employees of some nearby businesses told police they heard gunshots about 7:30 a.m., but no one called police until two hours later, when a man noticed the body near the tracks.

“People reported hearing what sounded like gunshots or loud pops, but they didn’t investigate,” Helton said. “We believe that the shots that were heard involved this young man.”

Police have no suspects and few leads in the case, Helton said.

Gonzalez, a resident of Santa Ana, died near the back fence of a home belonging to longtime resident Rudy Valenzuela, whose home abuts the railroad tracks. Valenzuela, 63, said he heard loud pops and a thud against his back fence, but thought nothing of it.

“I heard someone hit the fence but that’s nothing new because the kids walking to Saddleback High School are always passing through that way to school,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela, who has lived in Santa Ana since 1958, was upset after learning of the slaying, but he said he was not surprised.

“They shoot every night here, so it’s nothing new,” he said. “I hope they find whoever shot this guy. This stuff has gone too far.”

The 80 homicides committed in Santa Ana in 1993 shattered the city’s previous record of 59 killings, set in 1992. Of last year’s cases, 47 were gang-related, more than double the previous record, Helton said.

“It would be great for the community and for everyone if we didn’t even come close to the number of homicides we had last year,” Helton said as he stood near the railroad tracks where the latest slaying occurred. “We would look forward to any decrease.”