Unrelated Gang Shootings Leave 1 Dead, 2 Injured

One man was killed and two others wounded in two separate gang-related shootings in Santa Ana and La Habra on Friday night, police said.

In Santa Ana, a 22-year-old man was fatally wounded during a drive-by shooting, police said, bringing the total number of gang-related killings in the city this year to 45, three shy of a record set in 1993.

Workers at Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center found the body of Fernando Gutierrez in a passenger seat of a car that was parked outside the facility. Police said he was involved in a drive-by shooting that occurred at 11:10 p.m. in the 600 block of South Arapaho Drive.

Officers called to the scene also found someone who was wounded in the shoulder. The name of that person was not available Saturday, Police Sgt. Dick Faust said.

“It appears that Gutierrez and other unknown subjects had been driving in the area . . . when a confrontation occurred . . . on the street,” Faust said. “Based on the evidence at the scene, it appears as though shots were fired from both groups.”

About the same time of night in La Habra, a 21-year-old man was hit in the chest by a volley of gunfire that police described as a “running gun battle.”

Francisco Hernandez was airlifted to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he remained in stable condition Saturday, La Habra Police Sgt. Jeffrey Love said.

The shooting occurred at Florence Avenue and Lemon Street. “The firefight appeared to be quite furious,” Love said. Stray bullets pierced a fire hydrant, a street sign, cars and some homes, he said.

There were no arrests in either shooting, police said.