Killings Heighten Fears in Huntington Beach : Violence: A double homicide near pier in the city’s redeveloped downtown reflects encroaching problems, residents say.

As police searched Friday for the killer of two young men who were found dead near the Huntington Beach Pier, fear and anger swept through the trendy downtown district that the city has spent millions of dollars to redevelop.

No one knows what spurred the deadly confrontation Thursday but by about 10:15 p.m., Chen Cosmo Blanchard, 23, and Kenny Paul Summer, 23, both of Huntington Beach, were dead on the sidewalk at Main and Orange streets, a few feet from the entrance to Great Western Sanitary Supplies and just a few blocks from the pier.

A long-haired man shot them without provocation, then walked away, police said. But some witnesses said there may have been more to the shooting, saying that the gunman got into an argument with the two men, then shot each of them three times before fleeing in a car.

Police said they do not believe the shootings were gang-related, and one city official who did not want to be identified said it appeared that the gunman was upset at the two victims because he saw them urinating on a public wall. They got into a shoving match, the official said, then the man left and returned a short while later with a gun.

By Friday morning, the scene of the crime--still cordoned off--was a focal point for bike riders and passersby.

Mike Stephan, co-owner of the sanitary supplies store, watched as people milled about outside, and he pondered what he believes are the root causes of the killing. “I could see it coming,” he said. “At night, gangs come here from other areas and this gets ugly.”

His words were echoed by other residents who lamented the changes in the downtown area, worrying about the large crowds of youngsters who gather in the evenings and about the crime and violence that they seem to attract near the pier.

“I’ve been coming down here since I was 4,” said Charlotte Melson, who began summering in Huntington Beach in 1949 and moved here in 1976. “I’ve watched the town grow from oil city to the mess it is now. . . . I never in my life dreamed I’d have to worry about bullets flying downtown.”

Melson and her husband stroll Main Street a couple of times each week, walking their dogs, visiting a crafts store and stopping for coffee at the new Starbuck’s. But a few months ago, their 27-year-old son was jumped a couple of blocks from their home. More recently, she and her husband were at the Sugar Shack when they saw a hit-and-run accident among the cruising cars that often clog Main Street.

Police Sgt. Mike Corcoran said Thursday’s shootings “are nothing like the kind of things we are used to seeing or dealing with in our city. This is just a reflection of what’s going on throughout our society.”

Huntington Beach Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg said the double slaying is very unusual. “We only had three homicides throughout the city in 1993.”

Huntington Beach Councilman Ralph Bauer said Friday that crime appears to have become less of a problem in the downtown area since redevelopment. Bauer said that before, the downtown was a haven for drug users, prostitutes and runaways.

However, Bauer said he is concerned that there may be too many new bars in downtown.