News story about Shooting

MORENO VALLEY - A running shoot-out over several miles of Moreno Valley streets involved a series of carjackings and ended Thursday afternoon with the wounding of two men and the arrest of two unidentified suspects.
Police, who blocked off portions of Perris Boulevard for several hours, were sent to protect at least six crime scenes as they interviewed numerous witnesses, from near Jr Market at 15310 Perris Blvd., to the corner of Perris and Alessandro boulevards.
Police could not say whether the two wounded people were involved in an exchange of gunfire with the two suspects. Although some witnesses said they thought the incident appeared gang-related, police said it was premature to make that conclusion so early in the investigation.
Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise
Perry Mullin, a Moreno Valley police investigator, makes a point with officers Thursday as a vehicle that was carjacked sits on the center divider on Perris Boulevard south of Alessandro Boulevard in Moreno Valley. Two were arrested after a shootout over several miles of city streets resulted in the wounding of two other men.
The shootings in the middle of a very hot day along a busy arterial left people shocked and frightened.
"It's crazy! Somebody says there's shooting and we see this guy take off in a white car," said Desiree Banta, a store clerk who witnessed the mid-afternoon action moments before it ended at Perris and Alessandro.
Police were called shortly after 2 p.m., and arrived at the Union 76 Station where witnesses say officers arrested at gunpoint at least one shooting suspect.
From there, the small army of at least 20 police officers began the process of piecing together what occurred.
Deputy Dennis Gutierrez, sheriff's spokesman, said he had little information on what happened, other than there were four carjackings, two arrests and two wounded. Details about the victims were sketchy Thursday night. At some point, they were taken to Riverside County Regional Medical Center. Gutierrez said their wounds did not appear life threatening.
At Jr Market, on Perris Boulevard and Filaree Avenue, where men stream in to buy tall cans of beer on hot days, employee Mazen Farha, 22, said he saw a black car driving erratically in front of the store, then lose control in a nearby dirt field.
"I heard one shot," he said.
Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise
A police investigator checks a car in a dirt field on Perris Boulevard south of Delphinium Avenue in Moreno Valley.
Farha rushed outside the market, but a cloud of dust around the wrecked car impaired his view.
Police later taped off the field where a black Nissan Maxima was abandoned with a blown out tire and a broken axle.
After Farha returned to work, he said one of his regular customers entered and told him someone tried to carjack her.
"She told me someone pulled a gun on her and told her to get out of the car," he said. "She had her daughter in the car and he let her go."
The next crime scene appeared to be Jack In The Box at John F. Kennedy and Perris boulevards.
A clerk at the fast food restaurant said she was inside the store when employees and customers heard a lot of screaming.
"This guy forces this woman and her child out of her car," said Jackie Barahona, who said she was still frightened from the scene.
The woman's dark blue PT Cruiser was backed into a light pole and disabled in the parking lot. The clerk said a man then came toward the front door of the restaurant, but employees had locked the door.
From Jack In the Box, witnesses heard a series of seven to nine shots at Steer 'n Stein restaurant. Bullets struck a Chevrolet Suburban and a big-rig truck that was making a delivery to the restaurant.
"This black guy in black clothing robbed another car," said David Green, who was riding his bicycle nearby.
Green said he rode northward and spotted the carjacked green Ford Escort weaving as it was being chased by two men in a white car. The Escort crashed into the median about 50 yards south of the intersection of Alessandro and Perris.
The registered owners of the Escort had no comment when reached by phone.
Jocelyn Baker said she was leaving the parking lot at Walgreens on the southeast corner of Perris and Alessandro when a man approached her vehicle and demanded a ride.
"I said, 'I don't know you, I'm not going to give you a ride,' and I saw he was looking at my purse in the car," she said. Suddenly frightened by the odd encounter, she quickly left, but stayed in the area to later talk to police after the incident ended.
Baker said she believes the man was trying to hide in Walgreens but could not open a locked side door.
Witnesses then saw the man cross Alessandro on foot in the same direction as the white car.
"I saw the black man run across and police arrived and pulled their guns and ordered him to get down. The guy had his hands raised," said Maria Gonzalez who was in a nearby parking lot.
Behind the Walgreen's store, police searched a field for weapons and gun casings. They also scoured areas of Perris Boulevard as traffic slowed to see the several taped off parking lots where police questioned citizens.
"Our city is safe," insisted Mayor Bill Batey.
Batey said he didn't know all the details, but believes the city's priority on public safety is paying off with the hiring of more police officers.
"Having more officers is stemming this kind of action from occurring," he said.
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