SANTA ANA : Man, 22, Shot and Killed in Quarrel

A 22-year-old man was shot and killed early Friday after a dispute over a woman, police said.

Just after 6:30 a.m., Faustino Sanchez Venegas of Santa Ana was shot in the chest outside his apartment building in the 300 block of South Oak Street, Sgt. Dick Faust said.

Venegas was placing tools in the trunk of his car at the time. He ran between 30 feet and 50 feet to the building’s front door, where he collapsed and died.

Police are searching for the suspected assailant, Jose Fortunato Torrez Vasquez, 30, who fled in an older model black-and-gray van. Before July, 1993, Vasquez was in prison in Mexico on a narcotics-related crime, Faust said.

At the time of shooting, Venegas was living with Francisca Pereida Soto, 32, who police said was Vasquez’s former common-law wife.

“Vasquez had threatened to harm Venegas if the relationship was not terminated,” Faust said. “He came to the apartment this morning and confronted Venegas.”

Vasquez is described as Latino, 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing between 180 and 200 pounds, last seen dressed in black boots and camouflage fatigues. He is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached, Faust said. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts can contact the Santa Ana Police Department at (714) 834-4801 or (714) 834-4211.