Gunfire Erupts Outside O.C. Sheriff’s Dept.

A brazen daylight attack outside Orange County Sheriff’s Department headquarters Friday sent bystanders scrambling for cover as six assailants descended on a man, clubbed him and opened fire at this unlikely site for settling a grudge.

No one was struck by gunfire. The injured man, who was hit with a tire iron, wandered into the nearby lobby of the Men’s Central Jail with blood dripping from his head.

The assailants, identified by authorities as suspected gang members, sped away in a BMW sedan and a Honda Civic.

“I have never, never, ever, in 26 years, seen an attack like this in a place like that,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Dick Faust.

The explosion of gunfire at 3 p.m. sent jail visitors running and ducking behind concrete benches and a hot dog cart near the complex. About 15 Santa Ana police officers and sheriff’s deputies converged on the area, but the assailants had already escaped in different directions. No arrests had been made Friday night.

The injured man, Van Pham, 20, of Garden Grove, was treated for a cut on the back of his head and later released.

Pham had been working at the jail earlier in the day, sweeping floors as part of a court-ordered work program, when he exchanged heated words with six men who may have come to the jail to visit a prisoner, police said. The Sheriff’s Department complex is across the street from the Civic Center that includes the seat of county government, as well as the Santa Ana Police Department.

Sitting in two cars parked along the curb outside the jail, the men waited for Pham to leave at 3 p.m, Faust said.

Witnesses said the men yelled at Pham in Vietnamese as he walked along the sidewalk. The men then tackled him in the street and someone struck him with a tire iron, witnesses said.

As Pham and the driver of a black Honda fought, a passenger in a charcoal-colored BMW grabbed a gun from the car’s trunk--by some witness accounts a small rifle, by others a handgun--and began shooting at the victim as he bolted toward the jail.

The gunman, following Pham, fired four shots before the attackers retreated and fled. Police found no spent ammunition shells at the scene, and said the gun was likely a revolver.

“It was pretty scary. I’m standing on the sidewalk, then all of a sudden there’s a fight, then people start running,” said Rob Horton, who was at the jail to visit a friend. “It all happened so fast, people were running and ducking.”

The attack left bystanders shaken and police officials incredulous.

“Well, the jail is in an area where there’s a lot of (criminal) activity, but to have an incident right there , well, that is pretty unusual,” said sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dan Martini. “I’m sure it wasn’t planned.

“These guys probably weren’t thinking, but that’s always the problem. And I guess it’s also the reason we have so many people in custody right there,” Martini said.

Faust described the gunman as an Asian male, 5-foot-3 and weighing 110 pounds. He was wearing a light-blue shirt and dark khaki pants. The man who fought with Pham was described as Asian, 6 feet in height and weighing 130 pounds. He was wearing a white shirt and light-brown pants. Both vehicles were “low-rider” cars that sit close to the ground, witnesses said. Santa Ana police asked that anyone with information about the attack or assailants call (714) 834-4801.