UPDATE, FEB. 17, 9:26 A.M.: Santiago Jorge Marin Trejo, 20, of Santa Ana, has been identified as the man gunned down on West Cubbon Street Feb. 12. Trejo and three fellow gang members are believed to have been planning to assault a rival gang member with a baseball bat, which led to a foot chase that ended near West Cubbon and Garnsey streets, where Trejo was shot dead, according to Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas. At the same press conference where Rojas made that announcement, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas revealed that Trejo’s fellow gang members—Nick Torres, 19, Manuel Saucedo, 20, and Jose Brian Heredia, 19, all of Santa Ana—were arrested on suspicion of murder under the “provocative act” doctrine, which holds their individual acts provoked someone into killing another person, in this instance their gang comrade. The actual shooter remains at large and there is no description available, Cpl Anthony Bertagna, the Santa Ana Police spokesman, confirmed for the Weekly.
ORIGINAL POST, FEB. 13, 9:25 A.M.: A man who died in a hospital Sunday afternoon is believed to have been the victim of a gang-related shooting, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.
Friends drove the fellow to Santa Ana’s South Coast Global Medical Center, whose officials contacted police just before 1:45 p.m. about a patient having been shot.
Hospital staff informed arriving officers that the unidentified man died at 2:26 p.m. from a gunshot wound to his upper torso.
The preliminary investigation reveals the shooting occurred in the area of 800 W. Cubbon St., and the case appears to be gang-related, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the SAPD Homicide Unit at 714.245.8390, or leave an anonymous tip with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
Did you know that the Santa Ana Police Department offers monetary rewards to anyone with information leading to the arrest of gang homicide suspects? This program applies to gang-related homicides committed within the City of Santa Ana and reward amounts can range from $100 to $50,000. To participate, call 714.245.8648 or visit www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/pd/gang_homicide_reward.
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.