In the span of just over 14 hours, four people were shot in two separate incidents in Salinas over the weekend, leaving two cousins dead.
According to a press release from the Salinas Police Department, ShotSpotter picked up several gunshots in the 1100 Block of Granada Ave. around 7:30pm, Saturday, Jan. 27.
Several people also called police saying a man and woman had been shot. The man was pronounced dead at the house and the woman died later during surgery for her wounds at Natividad Medical Center.
It turned out the two were cousins attending a house party. They were later identified as Salinas residents Anthony Carmen Gomez and Yvonne Flores, both age 38.
Two men walked up to the garage where people were gathered and starting shooting, hitting the cousins. No one else was injured. The shooters then ran southbound on Granada toward Rosarita Drive.
The shooting is being investigated as gang related.
Gomez and Flores are the second and third homicides of the year for Salinas after 14-year-old Enrique Sosa was gunned down while walking on Russell Road on Jan. 18.
Two other people fared better Sunday, Jan. 28. Just before 10:00am, police were dispatched to the 1100 block of Pacific Ave. where they found a 24-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman shot suffering from gunshot wounds.
The two were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive, according to a press release.
Police believe they were confronted and shot by a Hispanic man while they were sitting inside their vehicle.
Editor's Note: The post was updated to include the identifications of the homicide victims, provided by the Salinas Police Department.