SDPD identifies victim shot, killed in San Diego shooting spree

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Police identified the victim who died during a shooting spree in Encanto, Bay Terraces and Spring Valley on Saturday.

At 8:26 p.m. on Friday, San Diego Police Department said they received several reports of a shooting in the 6200 Akins Avenue in the Encanto neighborhood. When officers arrived at the scene, they found four male juveniles who had been shot at by the suspect. The first victim, a 15-year-old, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body and arms. The second victim, also 15-years-old, suffered a gunshot to his arm.

The other two teens were not injured, police said. The intended victims were 15 and 16-year-old boys.

Officers performed life-saving measures until paramedics arrived and rushed to the hospital for treatment. Both teens are expected to survive.

At 9:15 p.m., officers responded to another shooting call in the 1800 block of Mazana Way in Bay Terrances. When officers arrived, they found two men who had been shot, police said. One man, 34, sustained a gunshot to his upper body. The second man, identified as Raul Rojas, 32, of San Diego, sustained multiple gunshot wounds and sharp force injuries throughout his body. He died at the scene.

“It’s just a shocker, you know. You wouldn’t expect it to be in this neighborhood," said Johnny Perry, who lives next to where the shooting took place.

Officers performed life-saving measures until paramedics arrived, SDPD said. The 34-year-old man was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.

Perry said when he found out what happened, he was "in a state of shock."

“After both of these shootings, officers received a detailed physical description of the suspect and his vehicle, and it became apparent these shootings were likely related.,” SDPD said. “Officers saturated the area in an effort to locate the suspect before additional acts of violence could occur.”

At 9:45 p.m., officers found a car with a man matching the suspect’s description in the 8100 block of Paradise Valley Road. Officers called in additional units to assist and initiated a “high-risk” traffic stop, and took the suspect into custody without incident. During the arrest, officers found a semi-automatic 9mm handgun inside the car. The weapon recovered appeared to be a “ghost gun.”

The suspect, identified as Jaime Gonzalez, 22, of Lemon Grove, was booked into jail on one count of murder, five counts of attempted murder, and additional gun-related charges.

During the initial investigation, officers learned about another shooting that happened in the 3100 block of Dovecrest Court in Spring Valley at 8:07 p.m. That shooting seemed to involve the same suspect as the previous shootings. In this incident, the suspect shot at a victim, but no one was injured. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department is handling that investigation.

Neighbors near Dovecrest Court said the suspect drove around a small parking lot when one neighbor asked if he needed help or was lost, then the suspect got out of the car and fired a single shot.

Neighbors said the area is typically quiet and free of crime.

Homicide detectives were called in and will take the lead in investigating the other shootings.

“Detectives have learned it appears the suspect essentially went on a shooting spree where he drove to different locations in the county and city of San Diego. For reasons that remain uncertain at this time, it appears he targeted random groups of people. There does not appear to be a link between each of the victim groups,” SDPD said. “It seems the suspect randomly saw and selected each group, got out of his vehicle, and opened fire after approaching them on foot. At this point, it appears the suspect acted alone and there are no outstanding suspects.”

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the homicide unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.