A hail of bullets unleashed in Salinas Saturday night felled two cousins—one fatally—followed by a second shooting less than 24 hours later that took the life of another man, Salinas Police reported.
Two male cousins were hanging out drinking beer together in a home's driveway in the 200 Block of Dennis Avenue just after 11pm on Saturday, March 25, when two suspects approached them and opened fire. The ShotSpotter system recorded 23 gunshots at that time, police said.
Both men suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The first victim, Fidencio Torres-Vega, 31, was found in the driveway, and was declared dead.
The second victim, a 33-year-old man police did not identify, managed to run away and was found in the backyard. He was transported to Natividad Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
The two suspects dressed in dark clothing reportedly ran westbound on Dennis Avenue and may have gotten into a vehicle near the intersection of Dennis and Miami Street, police said. No other information was available.
The victims, both Salinas residents, were fieldworkers and have no known gang contacts. Because the the shooting "is indicative of being committed by gang members" it is being investigated as gang-related, police said.
Police did not release the names of the two men pending notification relatives, and did not immediately return calls asking for an update on the injured man.
At 10:30pm Sunday, March 26, another 28-year-old man was shot in the 500 block of Leslie Drive, but found later near the Natividad Medical Center emergency room suffering from gunshot wounds.
The man, identified by police of Victor Sausedo, transported himself to the medical center after being shot and was found by a security guard outside. He died while medical staff attempted to save him.
The shooting is being investigated as gang-related, police said.
The two weekend incidents mark the 13th and 14th homicides in Salinas so far this year.
Editor's note: This post was updated to reflect new information provided by the Salinas Police Department.
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