2 Women Wounded, 2 Men Held in Series of Carjackings

A series of carjackings in Moreno Valley on Thursday afternoon ended with two women hospitalized with gunshot wounds and two suspects in custody, authorities said.

The gunmen stole four cars in a mile-long stretch of Perris Boulevard, beginning in front of a market near Filaree Avenue about 2 p.m., said Riverside County sheriff’s spokesman Dennis Gutierrez.

Witnesses reported hearing several gunshots as the string of robberies proceeded north along Perris Boulevard, he said.

The two people who were shot are expected to survive, Gutierrez said; their names were not released by police.

Three hours afterward, the cars sat cordoned off by yellow police tape, abandoned at odd angles several blocks apart.

By the early evening, police were still trying to piece together how the events unfolded.

“This is a huge crime scene,” Gutierrez said. “In fact it’s four crime scenes.”

One car in a vacant field had what appeared to be a bullet-riddled window frame, several blown-out windows and a bumper twisted around the front right tire.

A second car had crashed backward into a lamppost at a Jack in the Box.

“That’s the last car, right there,” said Gutierrez, pointing to a small green Ford straddling the median of the wide street.

“We’re still canvassing the area for possible suspects and -- believe it or not -- possible victims.”

Police did not release the identities of the two suspects.