Police search for 2 in shooting

Lolita Harper

Police are searching for at least two men after numerous shots were

fired in an apartment complex carport on Friday night, hitting two

Costa Mesa men, officials said Monday.

A 24-year-old was shot in the calf and an 18-year-old in the

stomach in the 1900 block of Maple Avenue at 10 p.m. Friday night,

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said. The victims remain

hospitalized, and their names have not been released.

Police are still unsure of the cause of the shooting on the city’s

Westside, but said preliminary investigation does not point to gang

violence.

“All the information we have received at this point does not point

to any type of gang-related criminal activity,” Birney said.

The two victims were hanging out in the carport Friday night when

the shooters jumped the surrounding fence and opened fire, striking

each victim once, Birney said. Many surrounding cars were also hit

and damaged, he said.

The victims were taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana,

where they were treated for their injuries. Hospital spokespeople

were unable to release the men’s conditions without a name.

Shootings resulting in injuries are rare in Costa Mesa, Birney

said, estimating less than a handful in any given year. If the

suspects are caught, they will face charges of attempted murder.

The shooting comes less than a month after the stabbing of a

teenager on Shalimar Drive, also on the city’s Westside. The

attackers in the stabbing were suspected gang members, police said,

while Friday’s shooters have not been designated as such.

Crime on the Westside has been a hot topic for a political group

whose members bill themselves as “improvers.” Councilman Allan

Mansoor, who was supported by the improver camp, ran on a platform of

eliminating crime throughout the city, especially on the Westside.

Mansoor could not be reached for comment Monday.

The number of violent crimes in 2002 plummeted 30.8% in Costa

Mesa, according to preliminary crime statistics released by

California Atty. General Bill Lockyer late last month. Those numbers

were in sharp contrast to the previous year, when crime numbers

climbed in all categories, leaving police especially worried about

the rise in street crime.

The two crimes that experienced the biggest drop were robbery,

which decreased 36.8%, and aggravated assault, which dropped 23.2%.

Since 2001, Costa Mesa police have aggressively targeted violent

crime by targeting problem areas within the city.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.