New Suspect Is Now Sought in Double Slaying : Investigation: Huntington Beach police get new information from people who saw the crime. The man they described earlier is now considered one of the witnesses.

Based on new information from witnesses to the slayings of two young men in the downtown district last week, police said Tuesday they are looking for a different man in connection with the fatal shootings.

Police released a new composite drawing of the gunman, describing him as an olive-skinned man of Latino or Middle Eastern ancestry, relatively tall, slightly heavy, 25 to 35 years old, who was wearing a dark-colored jacket, baseball cap and loose-fitting pants.

Last week, police described the shooter as a longhaired white man with goatee and glasses. Police now say this man is considered a witness and may have information that can lead to the capture of the killer.

Police also said Tuesday that the gunman escaped in a late model Saab 900 Turbo after shooting Chen Cosmo Maui Blanchard, 23, and Kenny Paul Sommer, 23, both of Huntington Beach, on a downtown corner last Thursday night. The car was being driven by another man, police said.

Police said last week that witnesses had seen the shooter walk calmly away from the scene of the crime.

The revised composite of the gunman is based on “new information coming from witnesses” and not the result of any mix-up in the police investigation, Lt. Charles Poe said. “There was no mix-up,” he said without elaborating.

Poe said that just before the killings, the longhaired man apparently had an argument with the victims over their urinating on the sidewalk. That, Poe said, initially led investigators to believe the longhaired man may have been the shooter.

“Given (the argument), it seemed logical to assume” that he had carried out the slayings, Poe said. Police say the shootings were not gang-related.

The shooting took place in the redeveloping downtown district, filled with sidewalk cafes and shops, which has become popular.

Residents say the area is also attracting gang members and “gang wanna-bes” looking for trouble. However, city officials say crime downtown has become less of a problem since redevelopment began 10 years ago.