Man Shot At Cathedral City Apartment Complex

A Cathedral City man is recovering from several gunshot wounds after shots were fired out of a passing car early Sunday morning.

Sgt. C. de Veas said the gunshots were reported just after 4 a.m. at the Creekside Apartments, 68200 33rd Avenue, just west of Cathedral Canyon and south of Ramon Road.

Officers arrived and found a man had been shot two or three times. He was conscious, de Veas said, and told investigators he had been standing in the parking lot next to a garage speaking with friends when he was shot.

He was transported to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where he was listed in serious condition.

Tenant Juan Cabriales didn’t get much sleep after the gunshots woke him up.

“I saw a lot people, like three guys sitting at the sidewalk,” he said, “and those cops asking questions.”

Another tenant Jaime Gonzalez disputed the police report. He believed the victim was shot somewhere else but came to the apartment complex to get away from the gunman. At the rear of the complex, clothes with dried blood laid on the ground.

Gonzalez said his apartment complex was safe. “It is safe in here because I’m the one walking through here, making sure everything’s safe,” he said.

Nearly an hour later, Cathedral City police officers spotted a car matching the description of the car involved in the shooting.

They tried to pull the car over, said de Veas, but the car sped off, leading officers on a chase that reached speeds of 70-miles-per-hour.

The suspect jumped out of the car into a Palm Springs neighborhood, near the intersection of Orange Ave. and Sunny Dunes Rd., leaving three people inside the moving vehicle. He was able to elude officers.

Police are looking for a Hispanic male who was 17-to-25 years old. He was about 5?07?-to-5?09? in height and about 170-190 pounds. He was wearing a black T-shirt shirt and black and white checkered shorts.

He was driving a 1995 dark green, 4-door, Honda Accord. The driver is wanted for evasion and also for questioning in the earlier attempted murder, de Veas said.

If anyone has any information regarding these incidents please call the Cathedral City Police Department at 760-770-0303.