Santa Ana Nightclub Guard Fatally Shot : Crime: Man is killed in parking lot shortly after he forced two disruptive patrons to leave the bar.

An unarmed security guard was fatally shot in a nightclub parking lot Sunday about an hour after he was involved in an altercation with two patrons, police said.

The guard, described as a male in his 40s, was not identified pending notification of relatives.

Police said preliminary reports indicated that he was shot three times--at least once in the head--by a passenger in a “dark-colored vehicle,” which was seen speeding from the scene moments after the shooting.

The fatal shooting occurred in the parking lot of Mama Frans, a nightclub at 2601 W. Edinger Ave.

Lt. Dave Petko said the security guard was summoned shortly after 6 p.m. to eject two of the bar’s patrons, who were described as “very drunk.”

“There was a verbal confrontation, the usual [name calling] and some minor shoving,” Petko said, adding that the two patrons were visibly angry when they left the bar.

About 7:20 p.m., when the guard was making his rounds in the nightclub’s parking lot, a man jumped out from the passenger’s seat of a parked vehicle and fired at close range on the guard.

The guard died at the scene.

Petko said there were separate witnesses to the two incidents involving the security guard.

An investigation is continuing.