Shooting Scene Is Quiet After 3 Men Wounded at Central and Massachusetts

Updated at 9:50 a.m. April 22, 2012

One man was shot in the stomach and two others in the leg after an altercation early Sunday morning at a mult-unit apartment at the intersection of Massachusetts and Central avenues.

Sheriff's deputies said two of the men were transported to Scripps Mercy Hospital. The third was found 45 minutes later later, lying in a side yard partially under a truck, and taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital. All three victims appeared to have nonlife-threatening injuries.

Deputies said callers reported seeing several males running from the scene at 3105 Massachusetts. Shell casings were found in front of the driveway to a residence.

A few minutes after deputies arrived, a vehicle collided into a fire hydrant at Massachusetts and La Corta, causing a large water geyser. Initially deputies thought the vehicle was related to the shooting but it turned out to be unrelated.

Deputies said that based on the preliminary investigation, this was a small gathering at a residence that carried over from an earlier gathering at Chicano Park.

By 9 a.m. Sunday, the scene was quiet.  Traffic passed the scene under foggy conditions. 

Neighbors across Central Avenue, south of the shooting scene, were cleaning up from a children's party Saturday. They said they heard sheriff's arriving for the incident but didn't see much because a fire engine blocked their view.

According to sheriff’s Sgt.  Trinidad Tejeda , deputies from the Lemon Grove Patrol Station received a radio call at 12:58 a.m. that a man that had just been shot in the stomach near the intersection of Massachussets and Central.

“About one minute later, the call was updated that a second shooting victim was in the driveway; the second victim was shot in the leg,” Tejeda said.

Several callers reported seeing several males running from the scene, Tejeda said.

Deputies arrived on scene, began checking the area and established a crime scene. Shell casings were found in front of the driveway to the residence.

A few minutes later a vehicle collided into a fire hydrant at Massachusetts and La Corta Street many blocks south, causing a large water geyser, Tejeda said.  Initially deputies thought the vehicle was related to the shooting but it turned out to be unrelated.

“About 45 minutes after the initial call, a third male gunshot victim was found near the driveway in the side yard,” Tejeda said. “The victim was out of sight partially under the front of a truck. The victim had a gunshot wound to his left leg.”