Saticoy Man Denies Guilt in Fatal Shooting : Courts: Authorities say the suspect is linked to a gang. The victim was a Cabrillo Village father of four.

A Saticoy man pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering a Cabrillo Village father of four, described by police as an innocent victim of gang violence.

Rudolfo Leo Martinez, 21, is scheduled for a Jan. 5 preliminary hearing on charges of murder and shooting at an occupied dwelling in connection with the Oct. 1 slaying of Jose Guadalupe Gutierrez, 37.

Gutierrez was shot in the heart as he stood chatting with a friend outside a small building where he had led an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Residents said they heard several shots, and detectives believe the bullets were fired by gang members from railroad tracks just outside Cabrillo Village.

“At this time, there’s no indication that whoever was the shooter knew this particular individual and singled him out,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger A. Inman said.

Gutierrez’s death left his two sons and two daughters, ages 5 to 18, without a parent. Their mother died of cancer several years ago, police said.

Martinez, who is in the Ventura County Jail with bail set at $250,000, was arrested Nov. 11 during one of the largest gang sweeps in recent county history.

Although Martinez is the only one charged at this time with Gutierrez’s murder, Inman said other arrests are possible. More than one type of bullet casing was found at the scene of the crime, indicating that more than one weapon was fired, the prosecutor said.

Only one bullet struck Gutierrez, but anyone who took part in the shooting could be charged in his death, Inman said.

“I think, legally, anybody who went there to fire into the village can be legally guilty of murder,” he said.

Police have said Martinez is a member of a Saticoy gang believed responsible for the shooting. Authorities will not name the gang to avoid giving it notoriety.

Inman said the reason for the shooting is unknown. All the shots appear to have come from the same spot and were fired at one general location. But authorities do not know if the shooters intended to hit anyone.

“Without eyewitnesses seeing the shooting, you can’t assume whether (the shooters) were aiming at any figures or were just shooting in a general direction,” Inman said. “(However), the lighting was such that you would expect that they would have been able to see the individual.”

In recent years prosecutors often have avoided a preliminary hearing by taking murder cases to the county grand jury and obtaining an indictment. But Inman said there is a good chance there will be a preliminary hearing in this case.