It happened just after midnight on Childs Avenue near Highway 99 in Merced County.
Sheriff's deputies have arrested 18-year-old Marco Garibay and another 18-year-old identified as Carlos Castillo for the shooting.
Detectives say the 52-year-old victim was walking to a nearby store when the two suspects shot him in the head and chest. Sheriff Mark Pazin says the victim had no gang ties and did nothing to provoke the gunmen.
Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin said, "There may have been a component of an armed robbery, but even then nothing was stolen from the victim ... shot four times, for no reason."
A witness who spotted the victim lying in the road told two nearby Merced Police Officers about the shooting.
The officers recognized one of the suspects running from the scene and contacted the sheriff's office as the shooting happened just outside city limits.
