Man Arrested In Drive By Shooting Near Santa Cruz High School
SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) -- A 20-year-old man was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting Friday at two males walking across the street from Santa Cruz High School, Santa Cruz police said.
Jonah Namauu, of Santa Cruz, was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of possessing and discharging a firearm in a school zone and from a vehicle, police said.
Around 9:10 a.m., following a verbal dispute with two male pedestrians, the driver of a black Volkswagen Jetta fired a shot at the pair in the 900 block of Laurel Street opposite the south end of the high school campus, police said.
The bullet pierced the fence of a home on Laurel Street, but no one was injured.
The two male pedestrians were later found hiding in the grounds of a nearby apartment complex and refused to cooperate with officers investigating the shooting, police said.
Santa Cruz police Officer Steve Pendleton, assigned to police public schools, was patrolling near the high school when he got the call about the shot fired and followed the Jetta to the 100 block of Center Street.
Pendleton and other officers stopped the car, placed Namauu under arrest and found a Glock model 17 handgun and an expended shell casing inside his car, police said.
Police detectives went to the scene of the shooting to remove the bullet from the fence and recover other evidence.
The motive for the shooting is unclear and is under investigation, police said.
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