Thermal Shooting Shocks Neighborhood

One man is dead and another is in the hospital after an early morning shooting in Thermal. The two victims were found on the 56-600 block of Polk street, near John Kelly Elementary School.

“I had not heard. Wow,” said one resident who did not want to be indentified.

Just after 1 a.m. Sunday, two men were found shot in the Thermal neighborhood. Jose Carmona, 20, of Coachella, died at the scene. The other victim was taken to the hospital.

KESQ spoke with one teen who has lived in the area his entire life. He said he hears gunshots often, but they’re usually shots into the sky.

“Crazy. I never thought this would happen,” said the teen.

The shootings happened in between an elementary school and the Coachella Valley Unified School District Office. It didn’t happen during school hours or on a school day, but residents still said it was scary that someone was shot and killed in their neighborhood.

“We never see that,” said the teen.

A Coachella Valley Unified School District employee said the area continues getting worse.

“Thank God the kids weren’t at school and we weren’t working. It’s scary how close it was,” said the woman. “We can’t even go outside anymore. Our kids can’t play in the front yard, they’re always inside.”

She said she’s glad the incident happened in the early morning hours, when her kids and the neighborhood kids were safe at home.

“It could’ve been a lot worse. I thank God,” said the woman.