Police detain 8 after Westside shooting

Costa Mesa police had eight people in custody after a shooting Wednesday evening near Pomona Avenue and James Street on the Westside.

No one was hurt in the shooting, which happened at 5:40 p.m., but police believe it was gang-related, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said. Several anxious neighbors said crime has been rising in the neighborhood.

A park ranger headed toward the area after hearing shots fired, according to police.

At the same time, two off-duty officers saw a suspicious vehicle leaving the area of the shooting, police said.

When on-duty officers pulled over a Toyota Camry, they found alleged gang members inside armed with baseball bats, knives and other “makeshift weapons,” police said. They were arrested.

After interviewing them, police determined that the seven suspects in the car approached a rival gang member and got into a dispute, police said.

The rival then drew a handgun and fired several shots at the seven approaching him, Police Sgt. Marty Carver said. The off-duty officers saw the seven as they were running away from the shooter, police said.

Hours later, gang investigators identified a teen suspected of firing the pistol as a 17-year-old Newport Beach resident, police said. Police arrested the teen later in the evening as he walked up to his house, but he did not have a pistol, police said.

Several neighbors said violent incidents like the shooting have become a common occurrence in the area around Shalimar Park.

Residents of Daisy Apartments, which is across the street from where the shooting happened and is a community geared toward families with kids, said they heard the shots but did not see anyone.

“This stuff happens all the time,” said one woman who did not want to identify herself. “There’s tons of gang activity.”

Daisy Apartments resident Lupe Lopez said although he sees police often in the area, it seems that most of the activity is across the street from his apartment — at the corner of James Street and Pomona Avenue.

Lopez was at work when the shooting happened, but he said that when he called his wife who was at home with his 2-year-old son, she hadn’t heard much about it.

“It’s not a big problem around here,” Lopez said, referring to his immediate area. But on the other side of Pomona Avenue, it could be a different story, he added.

“Sometimes over there,” he said. “But this is a good area.”

A James Street resident who said he says “nothing about what happens” on his block said that the possibly gang-related shooting is “the usual thing around here.”

Six of the eight people who were arrested are juveniles, all between 13 and 17, Birney said.

The six teens were in custody at Orange County Juvenile Hall, including the 17-year-old accused of being the shooter. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide, police said.

The two adults in custody are Deyvis Ramirez, 19, of Costa Mesa, and Michael Seward, 18, of San Clemente.

Ramirez and Seward are being held on $20,000 bail at the Costa Mesa City Jail, police said. They are scheduled to appear in court at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach on Friday, police said.