Hayward neighbors disturbed by deadly shooting outside hookah lounge
HAYWARD -- Yanet Ramirez had just opened her nail salon in Hayward on Saturday when she heard the news: There had been a deadly shooting just a block away from her business that morning.
She couldn't believe it.
"It's pretty safe around here but there had been another incident there before in that same place," Ramirez said.
Ramirez was in shock as she thought about the victims and their families.
RELATED: 2 dead, 2 injured in Hayward hookah lounge shooting
The shooting was reported at 1:38 a.m. Sheriff's deputies arrived within five minutes and immediately saw one person dead in front of the business on Mission Boulevard between Cherry Way and Grove Way.
Dispatchers then received calls from local hospitals reporting three gunshot wound victims arriving. One of the victims died from injuries at a hospital.
"Everyone has been talking about this for a while. All the neighbors," Ramirez said.
The shooting occurred outside of a hookah lounge. The sheriff's office said the city had recently shut the place down but it was operating illegally.
"We received a lot of complaints about this place. Our crime prevention unit, our crime prevention and our crime reduction unit has been out here a number of time over the past two years, along with the Board of Zoning and Adjustments and Code Enforcement," Lt. Tya Modeste/PIO, Alameda County Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office said they had been dealing with the problems attributed to the hookah lounge for the past two years.
"This place has received multiple fines. As you see from the front of the building ... they've taken their signage down as if the business is closed but they've continued to operate," Lt. Modeste added.