Detectives say the man was shot outside an apartment complex on Loughborough Drive near R Street around 7 p.m. Friday night.
When officers arrived the man was still alive. He was able to tell investigators a white four door car was involved in the shooting.
An ambulance then rushed the victim to Mercy Medical Center in Merced. The victim later died at the hospital.
"We said he had been shot. We don't know how many shots at this point. He was taken out of here pretty fast so they could give him medical attention to him," said Roger McIntryre with the Merced Police Department.
Witnesses also told police they saw a group of people leave the scene in a white car.
Detectives are still investigating if the shooting was gang related.
