Santa Ana : Three Youths Wounded in Drive-by Shooting
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Three youths were wounded Sunday in a drive-by shooting that was apparently gang-related, Police Lt. Jack Nelson said.
Rudy Padilla, 18, was reported in stable condition Sunday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, and two male juveniles, ages 16 and 17, were stable at Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana. The three were standing with a group of friends outside a house in the 1400 block of West Highland Street shortly after midnight when someone began firing a handgun out of a passing car, Nelson said.
Padilla was shot in the back while the 16-year-old was wounded in the stomach and the 17-year-old in the leg. The three were driven to Coastal Communities Hospital by friends, Nelson said.
No suspects were in custody Sunday, and police were still trying to determine if the shooting was related to the wave of gang violence that has plagued the city this summer.
“We’re not saying for sure yet, but it has all the earmarks of a gang shooting at this time,” Nelson said.
Since June, there have been more than a dozen gang-related shootings in the city.
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