Three shootings in 24 hours investigated in southeastern San Diego

A 24-year-old man was shot in the Mount Hope neighborhood Wednesday, marking the third shooting in southeastern San Diego within 24 hours and prompting detectives to investigate whether the incidents are connected, police said.

The latest shooting happened about 12:25 p.m. in the area of Market Street and Gateway Center Way, near the northern entrance of Mount Hope Cemetery. A witness reported seeing someone shooting out of a gray sedan, police Officer David O’Brien said.

When officers arrived, they didn’t find a victim. The man who was shot had been taken to a hospital in a private vehicle. His injuries were not considered life-threatening, police said.

According to police radio traffic, officers found at least four shell casings on the street.

The incident happened within 24 hours of two other shootings in southeastern San Diego, including a shooting that left one man dead and another man wounded in the Mountain View neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. Considering the location and time frame of the gunfire, detectives were trying to determine whether the three incidents were related, Lt. Andra Brown said.

“We would be irresponsible if we did not consider that there’s a relation among them,” Brown said, adding that it was early in the investigations.

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On Tuesday, the first of two shootings happened about 1:50 p.m. on Boundary Street between Market Street and Hilltop Drive in Mount Hope. A 40-year-old man in a vehicle was cut with shattered glass, but he was not struck by the gunfire, police said. The man was taken to a hospital. The incident happened less than a half-mile from the site of Wednesday’s shooting.

About 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, three gunmen walked up to two men and opened fire, killing one of them and wounding the other, in front of Mike’s Market on Ocean View Boulevard near South 37th Street, police said.

One victim, reportedly shot in the head, collapsed and died before he could be taken to a hospital, police said. He was identified as a 27-year-old man, but his name was not released.

The other victim, a 54-year-old man, was grazed, Brown said. The man ran away and later showed up at a hospital.

On Tuesday, Brown said homicide detectives were looking for any witnesses who might have fled after the gunfire erupted. The lieutenant said police found more than 10 shell casings at the scene. She would not say whether detectives had recovered surveillance video.

Last year, Mike’s Market was the site of a similar shooting. Police said a gunman in a passing white car sprayed bullets at a group of men on Sept. 20, killing a 34-year-old man and injuring another man.