Man Killed, 2 Wounded at Crowded Anaheim Party

ANAHEIM —  One man was killed, another was critically wounded and a young girl was seriously hurt when gunfire erupted at a crowded birthday party Saturday night, police said.

Although none of the victims were identified by police, neighbors said the dead man was 19.

The gunmen fled the scene on foot and eluded police despite roadblocks and a helicopter canvassing the neighborhood near Broadway and Loara Street, said Sgt. Steve Rodig of the Anaheim Police Department.

The shooting occurred just before 11 p.m. on Arden Street, in a 30-year-old residential neighborhood near Willow Park. A neighbor said a birthday party at the house was advertised by flyers distributed in the area and 80 to 100 revelers showed up, beginning about 7 p.m.

After two bursts of gunshots, people scattered from the party house and quickly tried to get out of the area, said Richard Salazar, 50, who lives two doors away.

“The shots came in real fast bursts,” Salazar said. “We thought it was firecrackers on a string.”

He looked out his window and saw some of the crowd, most of them young people, running down the street. Another group was crouched behind the bushes near his front door, he said.

After a brief, chaotic traffic jam of people trying to leave the street, a police helicopter began circling overhead and 10 police cars arrived, Salazar said. About 50 or 60 of the party-goers managed to get away, but police rounded up the remaining 25 people for questioning, Salazar said.

“It was kind of eerie,” said Jonathan Salazar, 22. “People were nearly hitting other cars trying to get out of here. Nothing like this has ever happened before around here.”

A man who answered the door at the shooting scene had no comment, other than to say it was a party that got out of hand, thanks to “some uninvited guests.”

The slain man was found in the front yard with a gunshot wound in the upper body. He died at the scene, Rodig said.

The other victims were taken to local hospitals, Rodig said. Neither their names nor the hospital locations were released for fear of further violence, although police said the girl was a minor.