NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (KGTV) – Neighbors in National City were gut-wrenched after two teenagers were gunned down Friday night.
“I was ripped out of my sleep with screaming that will probably never leave me,” Lila Silva, a neighbor, said. “It possibly could’ve sounded like someone screaming as if they were on fire.”
National City Police said two teens, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, were shot and killed on 17th Street.
Silva lives in the apartment complex across the street from where neighbors told ABC 10News the shooting happened.
“All I heard was the screaming — it's probably what’s going to stay with me for the rest of my life, because I had never heard screams like this before. You know, there was a lot of kids. And that’s what’s sad: These were innocent kids trying to have a Halloween party, I’m guessing,” Silva said.
Police say that the victims were taken to a hospital in the area, where they later died. Just up the street, Javier Hernandez wondered what was unfolding on his block.
“Helicopter going up and down, or going around in circles in the sky,” Hernandez said. “I felt something really bad must’ve happened. I’m sad that something like that could happen near home.”
“When double murder strikes right there in front of you, you know, it’s terrifying,” Silva said.
And this terrifying situation hits home for Silva.
She knows all too well the pain of losing a child.
“I buried my second child last year. So, I kind of feel like really — I feel really emotional for the parents,” Silva said. “We’re not prepared for that call and that’s the worst thing any parent can get.”
In the wake of this violence, Silva wants to do something to try to help anyone impacted by it.
“We’re just all shook up. I’m expecting people to come here. And that’s why I want to make some things out of respect, out of empathy. I know what you’re going to go through these next few months. I know the agony,” Silva said.
You can read 10News' original story about the National City shooting from Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, below.
NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (KGTV) – National City police are investigating a shooting in National City that left an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl dead Friday night.
Police received several calls regarding shots fired and two people down on East 17th Street at about 11:35 p.m. When officers arrived, they found the victims and rushed them to trauma hospitals where they died.
The victims have been identified but will not be released until their families are notified, police said. NCPD detectives are investigating the shooting and say there were dozens of people who witnessed the shooting.
Anyone with information is urged to call the National City Police Department Investigations Division at 619-336-4457 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
