2 Killed, 2 Hurt in Santa Ana Shooting

Two people were shot to death and two others were wounded at a Santa Ana home early Saturday morning after several assailants walked up and opened fire with a rifle and handgun, police said.

“The four victims were apparently drinking beer in the garage area of the residence when unknown subjects approached on foot and opened fire on the group,” Santa Ana Police Sgt. Jack Rife said. “Several casings were found at the scene indicating at least two weapons were used.”

The shooting, which police say is gang-related, occurred at 2:58 a.m. in the 200 block of West Bishop Street. No arrests have been made or suspects named.

Pronounced dead at the scene were Tomas Olea, 28, and 16-year-old Esteban Ballon, both of Santa Ana. Injured in the gunfire were 18-year-old Samuel Campuzano and Jose Ruiz, age unknown. Olea lived at the house where the shootings occurred.

Though Santa Ana has been experiencing a steady drop in homicides in recent years, the killings Saturday are two of several that have occurred in the last six weeks, including the fatal shooting last Monday of a 16-year-old boy. In May, the city had three fatal shootings in three days, at least two of which were gang-related.

“We’ll be intensifying our suppression,” Police Chief Paul M. Walters said Saturday. “We know that in the summer, you have the longer days and you have just a lot more youth on the streets. We really step up our efforts, but you can’t be everywhere.”

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Walters declined to discuss details of Saturday’s attack, citing the ongoing investigation. But he did say that most of the gang-related shootings in the city are not random.

“They know who they are going after,” he said. “That’s why we try to take out the leadership to stop that from happening. The scars and the feelings run deep, and they will try and pay [a rival gang] back if they think they are responsible for something. It could be years later.”

Walters said investigators are seeing a disturbing trend among gang shootings, including previously nonviolent tagging groups that are becoming involved in violent gang altercations.

“We are also seeing a trend where the gangs are being involved in drug activity,” Walters said. “Many times, the violence may not have anything to do with furtherance of the gang; it’s more to do with illegal enterprise, which is drug sales.”

After 74 homicides in 1994, the number of slayings in Santa Ana has steadily dropped from 46 in 1996 to 27 last year. The FBI last month ranked Santa Ana 19th in a nationwide survey of large cities with the lowest overall crime rates.

Police say the decline in homicides was largely due to a crackdown on habitual offenders with gang affiliations, which began four years ago.

“We are constantly monitoring which gangs are active and targeting them through search warrants,” Walters said.