Gunman Sprays Santa Ana Party; 1 Killed, 4 Wounded

SANTA ANA — A suspected gang member who sprayed at least two dozen bullets from an AK-47 assault rifle into a party early Sunday killed one youth and seriously wounded four others, police said.

The shooting unleashed “complete chaos” among the 20 people outside the house, said Santa Ana Police Lt. Dave Petko. “It was an awful, terribly violent shooting even in today’s standards of gang violence.”

Police and witnesses said the bullets ripped into Guadalupe Ramirez’s frontyard, where his son, Pepe, and a group of friends, who were drinking beer on the porch and chatting on the lawn, could be seen through a chain-link fence.

Police said a dark gray, two-door car stopped out front, and a short young man with a buzz haircut stepped out and fired the AK-47 over the hood of a car, directing the bullets back and forth at the crowd.

The car was driven by a second youth who ducked in his seat and waited for his partner to finish, witnesses said. As people screamed and darted for cover and two wounded victims crawled through blood to reach a dying friend, the assailants drove off.

Angel Ureno was pronounced dead at the scene. The Anaheim 17-year-old was hit in the chest, arm and head, and collapsed in the driveway. Police believe that at least three victims and both gunmen belong to rival Latino gangs. Ureno’s relatives insisted that he did not belong to a gang.

Both Pepe Ramirez and his brother-in-law, Joe Cruz, 22, were in serious condition at Western Medical Center late Sunday. Police would not release the names of the two other victims.

Ramirez’s uncle, Alfredo Ramirez, said he had warned his nephew about hanging outside with his friends because he feared that they were “making themselves a target” for gang members who often cruise the neighborhood.