COUNTYWIDE : Deputies Link 2 Drive-By Shootings

A gun was fired at two children in El Rio and a mother and daughter in Saticoy in related drive-by shootings Sunday, authorities said.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Department officials said there were no indications that the assailants, who had not been arrested by Sunday night, were affiliated with gangs.

“These people seem to be just riding along shooting at victims of convenience,” Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Backman said.

The first shooting occurred about noon in El Rio as the two children, between 10 and 12 years old, walked along Central Avenue near Vineyard Avenue. They had gone to a store to buy soft drinks and were returning to a track meet at Rio Mesa High School, where their parents were, Backman said.

A faded green or blue older-model car drove by, and the children heard a pop, he said. A girl was grazed by what apparently was a projectile from a pellet gun, Backman said.

The children continued on to the track meet and told their parents about the shooting, Backman said. The girl declined medical attention.

About five minutes later, sheriff’s deputies received a call of a second drive-by shooting on California 118 in Saticoy.

A woman and her daughter were riding their bicycles along the road when they saw a car of the same description driving north, Backman said. They told authorities that one of the occupants shot at them with a pellet gun but did not hit them, Backman said.