2 hospitalized after New Year's Eve shooting in Tulare County

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- 2022 got off to a violent start in Tulare County.

In the first few minutes of the new year, two people were shot in Terra Bella, south of Porterville.

Minutes after midnight, deputies responded to the shooting in the area of Rd 237 and Pepper Ave. and found two men who were each shot in the torso area.

Both men were taken to Kaweah Health Medical Center with serious injuries.

"Unfortunately, both victims in this case have not been completely cooperative with us, so we don't have any witness statements from the victim that can help us identify who may be involved in this," said Lt. Steve Sanchez.

Detectives are still searching the area for home security footage that might help, but so far no suspects have been identified.

It was only the beginning of an early morning of gunfire.

"Unfortunately we did respond to multiple calls of shots fired in the air," said Lt. Sanchez.

Deputies seized seven firearms overnight, including an AR-15 and three other assault rifles.

Four adults and 3 minors were arrested in connection to shooting in the air.

Lt. Sanchez said the sheriff's office will continue to take proactive steps to prevent crimes like Saturday's double shooting.

"Having any kind of violence in a community is concerning for us. The sheriff's office does a great job putting out patrol deputies and detectives to work these investigations," he said.

Detectives are urging anyone with information about the Terra Bella shooting to call the Tulare County Sheriff's Office at 559-733-6218.