1 Man Killed, 2 Injured at Irvine Club

Detectives were sorting through dozens of witnesses’ statements Saturday to piece together a rowdy evening at an Irvine nightclub that left one man dead and two others injured.

Police received reports of shots fired about 2 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Chanteclair, an upscale restaurant across MacArthur Boulevard from John Wayne Airport that, on weekends, becomes a club, Lt. Jeff Love said.

Police arrived to find a mortally wounded Anaheim man in the parking lot, Love said. He was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he was pronounced dead.

Another Anaheim man was injured in an assault and was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with wounds deemed not life-threatening.

Later, a second shooting victim sought treatment on his own at a Fountain Valley hospital. He suffered a graze wound to the neck, Love said.

Police did not release the victims’ names. Restaurant management could not be reached for comment.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Love said. “There’s a lot of evidence and shell casings.... We’ve just got dozens of witnesses. The big task is putting all the pieces together.”

Part of the problem, he said, is that the evening at Chanteclair was chaotic. A disturbance early Friday night prompted private security to ask some restaurant patrons to leave. And, Love said, several fistfights broke out in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.

Police are asking that anyone with information regarding the shooting call detectives at (949) 724-7000.