Two young Chino Hills brothers found fatally shot
Two brothers were found shot to death Tuesday in a ravine near their family’s mobile home in a remote area of Chino Hills, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials said.
Authorities said they received a call shortly before noon from a family member who discovered the bodies of Bryan Gonzalez, 12, and Christian Gonzalez, 10. They were found about 60 feet behind the Gonzalez home, which is on a ranch on Mystic Canyon Drive between Twin Knowles Drive and Via La Cresta.
The boys were pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsies will be conducted, authorities said.
Details about the deaths have not been released, but police were called to the scene after neighbors heard gunshots. The boys’ relatives were at home Tuesday and were cooperating with investigators, said San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.
“The initial indication at the scene is that they don’t have an outstanding suspect, that this incident occurred with just the two boys involved. However, they have not completely ruled out foul play,” Bachman said.
Authorities said a gun was found at the scene, but they did not disclose the weapon’s caliber, how many times the boys were shot or where they were wounded.
The family’s home is in Mystic Hills near Chino Hills State Park and just off the Chino Valley Freeway. Several families live in homes on the ranch, and there is a firewood operation on the property.
Lorana Ramirez, who worked with the mother of the boys at a nearby Burger King, said the mother made her sons pancakes for breakfast and then went to work. She went home on a lunch break and could not find her sons. After returning to work, Ramirez said, the mother received a call that the boys had been shot.
Krissy Rogers said her son Cameron went to school with Bryan and Christian and that she once was a chaperone for them during a school trip to Disneyland. She described the boys as good kids and well cared for.
“It’s a tragedy for the entire community,” Rogers said.
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