Man Fatally Shot, 2 Others Injured

A young man was fatally shot in the head and two men carrying children in their arms were wounded Sunday evening, shattering the peace of a close-knit Huntington Beach neighborhood filled with young families, police and witnesses said.

Two suspects then led police on a brief high-speed chase through city streets that ended when their car hit a curb and smashed into a wall. Police arrested two men as they tried to run away.

Huntington Beach Officer Mike Kelly said police were called to the 17200 block of Keelson Lane around 6:40 p.m. after a report of gunshots fired. When officers arrived, one man was face down on the sidewalk with apparent bullet wounds to the head, Kelly said. Two men, ages 28 and 17, had each been shot once in the leg.

Acting on information from a witness, police located a maroon sedan matching the description of the car driven by the suspects at Gothard Street and Warner Avenue. When the officers turned on their lights, the car sped up and a chase began. About one mile later, the car hit the wall at Gothard Street and McFadden Avenue.

“The two suspects fled on foot and officers gave chase” and arrested the two men, Kelly said.

Police did not release the name of the victims or the suspects Sunday night. Kelly described the dead man as in his late teens or early 20s and said the shooting may be gang-related.

Gary Anders of Riverside County was in a frontyard on Keelson Lane when he heard five gunshots. When he turned around, Anders said he saw a young man jump into a car that was driving in reverse. It pulled a quick U-turn and sped off and then, Anders said, he saw the bodies.

Anders said he ran over and put his ear to the back of the young man who had been shot in the head. “He was still breathing at first, real hard,” he said.

Anders said he also heard a heartbeat and felt a pulse and said a prayer for the man. But the heartbeat and pulse tapered off before police or emergency personnel arrived.

Anders said the two other victims appeared to be unrelated witnesses. They were in stable but guarded condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange and were scheduled to be discharged, said Jean Necas, a nursing supervisor.

After the shooting, neighbors gathered in disbelief around the police tape.

Three women pulled up in a red Chevrolet Sprint and ran through the police tape, trying to reach the body. The women began wailing after glancing at the young man who lay uncovered upon the sidewalk.

The cries drew Kathleen Gardea from her studio apartment. She said she has never seen anything like this during the three years she has lived on Keelson Lane.

“I’m sick to my stomach. It’s so visual, it’s not something on TV,” Gardea said.

Gardea said the neighborhood is a tightknit group of young families. She said she often walks to a produce van that parks on Keelson Lane and waves to the young children and the mothers playing in the front lawns.

The area used to be troubled but the recent addition of a police substation nearby and increased patrols had calmed the area down.

“The neighborhood had a reputation for narcotics activity and gang activity, and those kinds of things don’t go away overnight,” Kelly said. “Our officers who work the area on a regular basis have done an admirable job in reducing the frequency of that kind of activity. But all it takes is one individual.”

Kelly fears that Sunday’s violence may undo the improvements the neighborhood has seen in the past few years.

“It’s stayed pretty quiet here in our little town, but it’s gonna start poppin’,” he said.

Times staff photographer Al Schaben contributed to this story.