The deadly attack happened on the corner of S Street and 12th Street. Detectives were going through evidence Thursday night at the home, trying to figure out whether there was just one shooter or more.
Police say two men in their late 20s or early 30s are dead. Witnesses say the shooter, or shooters, just walked up to the three victims and began firing.
Merced Police say the three victims were shot while they were standing in front of a red Mustang just feet from their doorstep. When investigators arrived, they found the two younger victims on the ground. The third victim, a man in his late 50's, was standing in the driveway. He was shot in the arm.
"The shooter, he walked up to our victims and just started shooting," said Lt. Bimley West, Merced Police Department.
One witness said he heard the shots. He asked us not to identify him. "I was in the motel and then I heard the gunshots. It was a pretty good size gun. Afterwards it went off then a smaller version went off."
Detectives say evidence at the scene points to a possibility of more than one shooter. Either way, police say the killer didn't care that neighbors, including children, were outside when he opened fire. "He wasn't really caring about any witnesses as it may appear," said Lt. West.
West said witnesses watched one man run from the scene, down an alley where a dark colored getaway car was waiting for him.
West said this deadly shooting is likely gang related, but he said the neighborhood isn't a big problem area for crime. "This isn't one that we respond to every day, as far as there being a problem in this community."
Dozens of people in a nearby motel and the apartments across the street heard the commotion. One witness says he saw the paramedics trying to save one of the victims. "Then they kept going behind the house, I figured there was another one, so I went through the motel and around back, they were working on him, pumping his heart."
The deadly shooting marks the fourth and fifth homicides in Merced this year.
There was not much of a description for the people involved in this deadly shooting. Merced Police have not yet identified the victims. Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call police.
