2 Slain, 2 Hurt in Separate Gang-Related Shootings

A 16-year-old youth and a 25-year-old man were slain in separate gang-related shootings Saturday night and Sunday morning, police said. The shootings also slightly wounded two teen-agers.

The first shooting occurred at 8:07 p.m. Saturday when one teen-ager was killed and another wounded while walking in the 2400 block of West McFadden Avenue in central Santa Ana.

The slain youth was shot several times in the upper body and pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center in Orange. A bullet grazed the knee of his 17-year-old companion, who was treated at the scene, Santa Ana police Officer Robin Arostegui said. He said that a semiautomatic pistol was apparently used in the shooting.

Police said both youths were gang members and the incident is related to gang activity. Neither youth was identified because of his age.

The second shooting happened about 2:15 a.m. Sunday when two men driving in the 1800 block of South Bristol Street in south Santa Ana were hit by shots fired from another car, Arostegui said.

Alex Betancourt, 25, and Sergio Reyes, 18, were northbound when another car drove up behind them and someone started shooting, Arostegui said. The driver, Betancourt, was hit once in the upper body. Reyes, who suffered superficial wounds, drove Betancourt to Coastal Communities Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Arostegui said.

Police also described this shooting as apparently gang-related.