Man Arrested in Suspected Hate Crime and Shooting

A 55-year-old Laguna Niguel man was arrested Monday night on suspicion of a hate crime after screaming and shooting at a Nicaraguan couple who live in his neighborhood, authorities said.

Deputies arrested Peter Kramer at his home in the 25400 block of Via Estudio on suspicion of attempted murder a short time after the victims and witnesses reported that he fired a handgun at the couple’s car, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Lynn Nehring.

The couple, whose names were not released, were driving home from San Diego when they stopped at 6:51 p.m. to check their mailbox, which is located with other resident mailboxes in a common site in front of the suspect’s home, Nehring said.

Kramer screamed obscenities and racial epithets at the 50-year-old man and 52-year-old woman and told them to “go back to their homeland,” Nehring said. When the couple got in their car to leave, Kramer chased them down the street, firing, Nehring said.

Deputies found gunfire damage to the left rear side of the car, Nehring said. Kramer and the victims apparently share only “a casual knowledge” of each other, and there was no indication Monday evening that the shooting was the result of a prior conflict, Nehring said.

The incident remains under investigation, he said.