Teen killed, cousin wounded in Santa Ana shooting

One teen boy was killed and his cousin wounded when a gunman opened fire on their parked car in Santa Ana Thursday night, near Century High School.

The two teens were sitting in a parked car in an alley behind the 1400 block of South Minnie Street at around 7:20 p.m. when a gunman opened fire on them, according to a Santa Ana police spokesperson.

Both were rushed to a local hospital, where one of them died. He was identified as 18-year-old Roberto Izelo of Tustin. 

His 19-year-old cousin was in hospitalized in stable condition, the spokesperson said. 

A 16-year-old teen who was sitting in the backseat of the car was unhurt.

"We believe the suspect approached the vehicle, fired multiple shots in the vehicle, and struck two of the three occupants in the vehicle, the two that were sitting in the front; upper torso hits," the police spokesperson told CBSLA.

One of the victims attended Century High and was on the school baseball team, police confirmed. He had just finished a game prior to being shot.

Century High student Brayan Tafolla lives near the parking lot where the shooting occurred. 

"I didn't hear the gunshot but I looked around and I saw a bunch of police cars," Tafolla said.

On Friday, students and fellow baseball players released balloons to honor Izelo who played in the outfield. He was weeks away from graduating.

The Santa Ana Unified School District released a statement Friday saying, "We offer our most sincere condolences to the student's family. Crisis counselors have also been sent to support any students and staff at the school dealing with this loss."

"It makes me sad knowing that they killed a person from my class," said student Crystal Padilla. "It could happen to anybody...getting killed at such a young age."

Police on Friday released surveillance video of the suspect taken prior to the shooting. The video shows him walking through a parking lot. He remains at large. He was only described only as a Hispanic man who was dressed in all black clothing.

There was no word on a motive.  

In:
• Santa Ana