Two Men Slain in Gun Battle at Apartments

Two men were killed and another was wounded Wednesday during a gun battle inside a small, run-down apartment building, police said.

The shooting began about 3:40 p.m. in the 1400 block of East Grace Avenue in an area dotted with vacant houses and dilapidated apartment buildings.

Residents of the neighborhood heard a volley of gunshots, and a couple of witnesses said they saw one man run from the green stucco apartment building after the shooting, police said. A few seconds later, three men were seen driving away from the complex in a white Ford sedan, according to a witness.

Dondi Wheelan, 28, said she was in her apartment directly across the street from the shooting site and was looking out the window when the shots were fired.

“At first I thought they were firecrackers, but then I realized those were gunshots,” Wheelan said. “Then I see this guy running, really hauling, out of there.”

Seconds later, she saw three men get inside the white Ford and drive away. “One of the guys was carrying something that looked like a case of beer, but it could have been drugs. There’s a lot of drug dealing going on over there,” Wheelan said.

When police arrived they found two men dead inside the apartment building. Police then followed a trail of blood to the back door of a vacant house about a block away, where they found a man bleeding from a gunshot wound to his right arm.

Paramedics transported the wounded man to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, police said. “It is unclear whether the wounded man is a victim or a suspect,” Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Helton said. Police had not identified the victims as of late Wednesday night, nor had they established a motive for the shooting.

Helton said he is not sure how many shots were fired but that the two men died of gunshot wounds. Two handguns were found inside the apartment, he said.