Witness describes HB shooting; intruders sought

A Huntington Beach man was shot early Thursday morning inside his home and police are searching for two suspects who were spotted fleeing the neighborhood.

The shooting happened just before 3:30 a.m. on the 8300 block of Lambert Drive, and was reported by neighbors who heard gunshots, Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy said.

The victim, described as a man in his late 20s or early 30s, suffered several gunshot wounds. He was undergoing surgery and listed in critical but stable condition, Handy said.

A friend of the victim who was inside at the time of the shooting said he woke up when two men entered the house and pointed a gun in his face.

The two strangers were wearing ski masks and yelling they were police, said the friend, who asked not to be identified.

“It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever been through,” he said as he left the scene wearing part of a plastic jumpsuit police gave him after taking his blood-stained pants as part of the investigation.

The man said he was convinced he would die when one of the intruders pressed a handgun against his temple, but then the shooting victim ran down a hallway toward his friend and began fighting with the two gunmen.

The friend said he only heard one gunshot but police told him the victim was shot three times before the assailants fled.

Police said in a news release that they don’t believe the home was randomly targeted.

Handy said there were signs of “criminal activity” at the house.

“Detectives have seized a quantity of both drugs and U.S. Currency from the victim’s residence,” the department said on its Facebook page Thursday afternoon. “A firearm believed to have been used in the shooting has also been seized from the location.”

Police haven’t made any arrests and did not release the identity of any suspects or the victim.

— Mark Boster of the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.