It was a very bloody Halloween night in Orange County, where six people died in three incidents Friday night: a hit-and-run of three trick-or-treaters in Santa Ana, a motor accident involving a dad walking his trick-or-treating son in Irvine and a murder-suicide in front of the deceased's children in Mission Viejo.
]
We'll present them in the order they happened Friday.
Around 6:45 p.m., three 13-year-old girls in costumes and out trick-or-treating were killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver in the 1400 block of East Fairhaven Avenue, near the intersection with Jacaranda Street, Santa Ana. Police say they have made multiple arrests but were releasing no names or other information pending an 11 a.m. press conference today. But Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido reportedly told KNBC/Channel 4 that five suspects had been arrested. The county coroner identified the dead as Andrea Gonzalez and twin sisters Lexandra Perez and Lexi Perez, all of Santa Ana and all pronounced dead at the scene, where a makeshift memorial quickly went up. A Honda CRV that was found in the nearby Big Lots parking lot with extensive damage to the front end was towed away for evidence collection Friday night. It is believed at least two males had been in the Honda before it was ditched. CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE: Jaquinn Ramone Bell Held in Halloween Night Hit-and-Run Deaths of 3 Trick-or-Treating Girls
About 7:10 p.m., a 65-year-old man and his 4-year-old son were struck by a Mazda 3 while trick-or-treating in the 100 block of West Yale Loop, Irvine. John Alcorn was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead at 8:36 p.m. Friday, according to the county coroner. His son, who wore a Captain America costume, was left in critical condition, relates Irvine Police Public Information Officer Farrah Emami. The female driver of the Mazda stopped at the scene, cooperated with police and was not initially charged, Emami added.
Around 8:35 p.m., Orange County sheriff's deputies were called to the Camden apartment complex, 26871 La Alameda, Mission Viejo, where the bodies of an adult male and female were later discovered in the apartment complex. Investigators believe that during a custody exchange of his children, ages 7 and 13, Scott E. Gimbel, 50, fatally shot his estranged wife, Linda Sachs Gimbel, 44, of San Clemente, and then turned the gun on himself. The children were there at the time, but neither was injured. Deputies recovered a gun at the scene. Information is still being collected at 714.647.7000, or it can be left anonymously with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.847.6227 (855.TIP.OCCS) or via occrimestoppers.org.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.