Seaside Police look to community to help quell uptick in shootings.

It's been a strangely violent start to 2021 in Seaside, where seven shootings have taken place since Jan. 1. 

The mostly good news is that nobody has been killed. The bad news is that one man, believed to be an innocent bystander, was wounded while sitting in his car during one of the shootings. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Seaside Police Det. Sgt Matt Doza says the violence seems to be emanating from old rivalries between the Norteños and the Crips street gangs. But it's not clear, he adds, if the fighting is over drug territory or something else.

Since Jan. 1, shootings have taken place at the following locations: Wanda Avenue at Virginia Street; Yosemite Street at Valmar Court; Noche Buena Street at Military Avenue; San Pablo Avenue at Baker Street; Kenneth Street at Noche Buena Place; Olympia Avenue at Laguna Street; and General Jim Moore Boulevard at Coe Avenue.

Doza's ask of the public: If you saw anything at any of those locations, even if it seems unimportant, give the SPD a call.

"It could be the direction a car was traveling, it could have been words someone heard being shouted," Doza says. "You never know what small bit of information could help break a case."

Doza can be reached at 899-6751 or mdoza@ci.seaside.ca.us. The department's anonymous tip line is at 899-6282.