Man, 30, Shot to Death at Home Near Theme Park

A man was shot to death early Monday outside his home near Knott’s Berry Farm after an argument overheard by neighbors.

Police said Arturo Macias, 30, was shot in the head and chest about 2:40 a.m. and was later pronounced dead at West Anaheim Medical Center.

Police were still investigating Monday afternoon and had made no arrests. Witnesses spotted two vehicles--a white car resembling a Monte Carlo and a white van--leaving the scene in the 7600 block of Crescent Avenue, Lt. Mike Schwartz said.

Neighbors said they awakened to bursts of gunfire and then the screams of the victim’s wife. Macias lay fatally wounded next to a Knott’s Berry Farm parking lot, across the street from the couple’s apartment building.

“There was a big argument going on,” neighbor R. O. Davis said. He declined to describe the dispute in detail but said the van left shortly before the shooting.

Davis said he heard “a barrage” of about six rapidly fired shots, then a pause and two or three more shots.

Irene Leone, who manages a nearby apartment building, said the area is well-lighted and regularly patrolled by the amusement park’s security guards.

Neighbors said the couple and their two children moved into the apartment about two months ago and lived quietly. One neighbor said Macias occasionally cleaned carpets in the 12-unit building.

A strip of earth in front of the couple’s apartment lay furrowed where a neighbor said Macias planned to plant roses and carnations.