Two more gang-related shootings took place in Manteca Monday including one in a well-kept working class neighborhood just north of downtown.
A gunman fired from a speeding car at two men in the 400 block of North Poplar Avenue at 1:30 Monday afternoon leaving one with a hand injury that Manteca Police said could have occurred when he ran from the approaching vehicle that had its three to four occupants.
Sgt. Lewis Clark said there were at least three occupants in the 2000s vintage Mercedes that was described as being silver to charcoal gray in color. It was last seen driving away from the scene in a southbound direction on Poplar Avenue toward North Street. A half dozen bullet casings were found in the street where the shooting had occurred, Clark said.
Clark noted that the two men were near their Chevy Impala – one inside and the other on the curb – when the shots rang out.
The sergeant said another gunshot victim showed up at a local hospital emergency room at about the same time. Police said that the two incidents could be related but they were not sure. There were no details of where the second shooting may have occurred but police indicated it wasn’t at the Poplar Avenue location.
Police said the victim was shot in his extremities causing wounds that were not life threatening. Patrol units cordoned off the scene and stretched yellow crime tape across the roadway and by a single story residence.
Five residents living in the neighborhood said they had heard at least three gunshots that they first thought were firecrackers.
The investigation is being taken over from the resurrected four-man gang suppression unit that Manteca Police Chief Nick Obligacion put on the street Thursday after the City Council authorized additional funding for four more sworn police officers.
Gang drive-by ends with man shot in hand
2nd shooting sends another victim to hospital