Neighbors React To Desert Hot Springs Murder

DESERT HOT SPRINGS – Police say a drug deal ended in violence when 19 year old Christian Kong allegedly opened fire on a car full of people, killing the driver and injuring two other men.

Another passenger, a 24 year old Las Vegas woman, escaped uninjured.

It happened near Desert Hot Springs high school, just down the road from Ron Martinez.

“I heard a bang and I came outside and I saw a girl running over here screaming,” says Martinez.

Martinez says at one of the victims collapsed in front of his house. He called 911 and waited for police to arrive.

“The brother was right there and she came out screaming and I went out there to help her,” says Martinez. “And I noticed he had blood all over his face. Then I looked again and I could see the hole right in his cheek.”

There are few street lights on 5th Avenue this the last one before heading back behind the high school I can get dark there at night and it has Martinezworried.

“It’s a bad area. I don’t see why anybody would go back there unless it was something bad. And I mentioned that to the cops too,” says Martinez.

Witnesses lead police to Kong. They arrested him hours after the shooting in his home on the 66-000 block of Avenida Dorado.

Officers found a handgun, marijuana plants and evidence of drug sales.

He’s charged with 1 count of murder and 3 counts of attempted murder. He’s being held on $1.5 million bail.

“I think our police department has stepped up and it’s unfortunate some people just continue to have this kind of behavior in our city,” says Irene Bilous, who also lives close to Desert Hot Springs High School.

Martinez is also a victim of violence. He got shot during a drive-by and wanted to help.

“Kind of ironic that I was able to call somebody for these people too and I told the guy that too. That maybe I returned the favor,” says Martinez.