Gang Retribution Suspected in Shooting of 2 Youths in El Rio

As sheriff’s deputies investigated whether a suspected gang shooting in El Rio was retribution for one the night before, residents reacted with disbelief as the year’s total number of gang-related shootings in the Oxnard area swelled to at least 13.

An alleged gang member pumped buckshot and 9-millimeter slugs into El Rio residents Daniel Gonzales, 17, and Edward Medina, 15, Wednesday evening. They were seriously injured.

Adrian Reyes, 20, and a 14-year-old friend were injured Tuesday night when two suspected gang members ambushed them with gunfire in Oxnard’s La Colonia neighborhood.

“Because of the timing, it has all the earmarks of retribution,” Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Robertson said Thursday.

And although the second shooting took place a few blocks from Oxnard, both Oxnard police and sheriff’s investigators believe Oxnard gangs were involved.

Before felling Gonzales and Medina, the shooter yelled out the name of a La Colonia gang and sped away in a pickup truck.

Police say that at least 13 people have been shot in the Oxnard area this year by suspected gang members. Two of those victims have died. A handful of other shootings, including five more deaths, may also be gang connected, police say.

Residents say that is far too many.

“The youth that I work with are always checking behind their backs,” said Ricardo Melendez, an Oxnard health educator who works with at-risk youths. “They are very cautious about where they are going and when they are going.”

Manuel Coronel, 64, who lives next door to the scene of Wednesday’s shooting, said he just doesn’t understand what motivates gang violence.

“I’m not used to this stuff,” Coronel said. “It’s crazy.”

Two blocks away at Rio Plaza Elementary School, Assistant Supt. David A. Gomez said the shooting was a “pretty sad state of affairs.”

The schoolchildren are trained to “duck and cover” not just during earthquakes, he said, but in case there is a drive-by shooting.

“What can we do?” he said. “We try to be vigilant, but we can’t wear armor to school.”

Oxnard police officials insisted the shootings were not indicative of a crime spree. They are isolated incidents that must be contained, they said.

“It can snowball, but we’re here to stop it before it does,” department spokesman David Keith said.

Oxnard’s gang unit was beefed up in February, and the department has no further plans for expanding gang enforcement or patrols, Cmdr. Joe Munoz said.

Rather, he urged residents to stem the violence by stepping forward and assisting detectives in their investigations.

“The norm is to not cooperate out of fear or loyalty,” Munoz said. “But as long as there are people who are willing to help, there is hope.”

The Sheriff’s Department will combat the escalating violence by increasing its presence in El Rio and performing additional home searches of gang members who are on probation, Robertson said.

Meanwhile, Medina’s family remains traumatized by Wednesday’s shooting, which left Edward and his friend bleeding on the front lawn.

Medina and Gonzales were walking to Medina’s sister’s house on Balboa Street. As they began to cross the little front lawn, someone jumped out of a pickup and started firing a shotgun at them, investigators said. One round shattered Gonzales’ hip, another left his wrist dangling. Medina was sprayed with some of the buckshot as well.

They crawled up the lawn to take refuge behind a parked car. But the shooter pursued them and calmly pumped a 9-millimeter slug into Edward’s leg. Then he ran back to the truck, jumped in the back and sped off.

Medina and Gonzales were still being treated at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard Thursday night. Hospital officials declined to release their conditions.