Drive-By Shooting Too Close For Comfort

A drive-by shooting in Indio happened just two days after another shooting less than a mile away. Residents say the location of the drive-by, across from a church and a school, makes it even scarier.

“That’s sad. That’s a statement of what’s going on with our demographics today,” retired teacher Cheryl Lund said. “I’m just thrilled that it happened at night when the children were not exposed to what went on.”

Police found a 19-year-old man in the drivers’ seat of his car bleeding from a gunshot wound. He’s hospitalized in serious condition.

“That’s terrible. It’s very scary when it’s this close to home,” Indio resident Bob White said. “Makes me worry about my mom coming to church here and getting caught in something.”

“The victim’s vehicle was getting ready to make a left-hand turn from Miles onto Southbound Clinton street, waiting for the light to turn green,” Indio Police Department’s Ben Guitron said.

The suspect drove up in a red pickup truck, opened fire and drove away. This after a shooting on Valencia Avenue Saturday night a quarter of a mile away.

“The question has come up, does it have anything to do with the other shooting? No,” Guitron clarified. “If they were related, we’d probably be more concerned.”

What *would* concern more if gangs did trigger the shootings .

The drive-by happened in a safety zone. Back in 2010, Indio implemented a gang injunction prohibiting suspected gang members from certain activities in designated safety zones.

“It’s too early to say was this a gang injunction violation. Who was the other person in the vehicle, we it a gang member? Was it gang related? We don’t know yet,” Guitron said. “We went through all that work and that effort. If it is gang related, or any crime that’s gang related, near that injunction, we’re going to go after them to the full extent of the law.

Right now, police wait for the victim’s condition to improve so they can talk with the victim and find out how big a problem they have on their hands.