Merced County shootings leave 1 dead, 5 injured

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Six people were shot during a violent weekend in Merced County, and one of them has died from his injuries.

The first shooting happened around 9 p.m. Saturday on Bobbie Avenue near Winton Way in Winton. One hour later, police were called to Home Avenue near R Street in Merced for another shooting. Police say they're working with the sheriff's office to find out if these two shootings are connected.

Merced police say three men were ambushed at a house on Home Avenue Saturday night.

"There were three victims inside of a garage, and there were three shooters that walked up behind and started to fire," said Capt. Tom Trindad of the Merced Police Department.

Paramedics rushed all of the victims to area hospitals. Two are now recovering, but one man who was shot in the head -- 29-year-old Luis Palomares -- died on Sunday. Detectives spent hours collecting evidence at the scene and are still searching for suspects.

"As investigators start looking at stuff they're finding out there could be a couple of motivations behind the shooting, so until we can pin it down it's hard to say right now exactly what the motivation is," said Trindad.

The attack happened just one hour after another triple shooting on Bobbie Avenue in Winton. Deputies say two teenage girls and a teenage boy were gunned down in a driveway.

"The investigation has yielded that it is gang-related," said Sgt. Delray Shelton of the Merced County Sheriff's Office.

The teens were flown to Modesto hospitals and are expected to survive. Now detectives are trying to track down a van that may be tied to the shooting.

"The responsible vehicle is a small white van with a gray stripe at the bottom of the vehicle. We're asking anyone with information as to the whereabouts of that van to contact the Merced County Sheriff's Office," said Sgt. Shelton.

This weekend's homicide is the 14th this year in the city of Merced. That's nearly three times as many as the total of five from last year. It also brings the county-wide total to 30 homicides for the year. That's the most in more than two decades.