It took less than half a minute. A silver Kia pulled into the front yard of a King City home where a birthday party was being held. Three men then got out of the car and fired into the crowd.
Eleven people were injured and four of them died.
“It couldn't have been 20 seconds and it was over,” said Monterey County City Police Chief James Hunt. “It did not make sense”.
Now, King City is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects who opened fire at the party.
On Sunday around 6 p.m., police officers responded to a report of shots fired at a residence in the 200 block of North 2nd Street. According to Hunt, eleven people suffered gunshot wounds and four people (three men and one woman) later died.
The gunmen, wearing dark-colored clothing and masks, fled after shooting several times at partygoers.
Seven adults were taken to Monterey County hospitals. Two of them were in critical condition and the others had non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Authorities identified those murdered as Alicia Ramírez Aparicio, Francisco Aldape Pérez and Olivo Pérez Pina, residents of King City, all 32 years old, and Mario Guzmán Mendoza, 42 years old.
“The murders and shootings that occurred [Sunday] “The night was a terrible tragedy for our entire community,” King City Mayor Mike LeBarre said in a statement. “We are heartbroken and share our deepest condolences with the family and friends of those who died in this callous act of violence.”
King City, along the Salinas River, has about 14,000 residents, about 85% of whom are Latino, according to census data. The city is about 130 miles south of San Francisco and 220 miles north of Los Angeles.
The city “is a vegetable hub that markets the best domestically grown produce,” according to the King City website.
Councilman Carlos Victoria condemned the shooting in an interview Monday and said such a mass murder was unprecedented in King City.
“This is a small…rural community,” he said. “Most of our source of employment is agricultural. It is simply not acceptable. “He is not welcome in our city.”
Hunt described King City as a close-knit farming community that had had some problems with gangs. Ten years ago, he said, there were some shootings.
“We still have shootings and there will be homicides here and there,” he said, “but nothing on this scale.”
Hunt highlighted the $20,000 reward and said the investigation was a big task for city police.
“For a big city it would be a difficult task,” he said, “but for a small police department, it's even more difficult.”
In a news release, the department thanked the Monterey County Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol and the Greenfield, Soledad, Seaside, Pacific Grove and Salinas police departments for their assistance with the investigation.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact King City Police Sgt. Josh Partida at (831) 386-5988 or [email protected], or call the WeTip line at (800) 782-7463.
Times staff writer Summer Lin contributed to this report.
