Lompoc police are investigating two separate shootings that happened within hours of each other on Monday, in a neighborhood where kids were playing outside.
“Honestly, just concerned. But not shocked or surprised just because of the previous shootings I’ve already heard about,” said nearby resident Tiffany Gambardella.
Shots rang out on North E Street at around 4:45 p.m. and again around 9:15 p.m. on Monday.
Gambardella walked outside after the second shooting to find someone had already called 911.
“First the fire truck, and then one police car after another. Then I saw a police officer unrolling some caution tape,” Gambardella explained.
Back in August, the police department investigated two shootings that happened in an alley within a two week period.
Months later, police say that alley is no longer a hot spot for gang activity.
“They see our surveillance cameras, so instead of hanging out in the alley where they used to hang out, this is literally 1,000 feet to the west. Now they’re hanging out on the street,” said Sgt. Agustin Arias, Lompoc Police Department.
Sgt. Arias says since the last shootings in August, gang members haven’t been hanging out there at all.
“And they showed up this week because school’s out,” he said.
There was one victim in Monday’s second shooting. A 16-year-old gang member who lives on North E Street. He was shot in the leg.
Unlike some of the previous gang shootings, these were drive-bys.
“It’s actually against gang culture to do a drive-by shooting because of the threat to innocent bystanders,” Sgt. Arias explained.
Though no other kids were hurt, many cars parked along North E Street were sprayed with bullets.
There are as many as four suspects and two different cars were involved, but the shootings are believed to be connected.
The victim was airlifted to the hospital and is said to be in stable condition.
