Suspect In Fatal Shooting At South San Francisco Park Arrested
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Authorities confirmed Wednesday morning that the suspect in a fatal shooting in a South San Francisco park earlier this week has been arrested, police said.
The South San Francisco Police Department said that investigators received information that the suspect, 19-year-old South San Francisco resident Christian Omar Cruz, might be in the Seaport neighborhood of Stockton. With assistance from San Francisco DEA agents and the United States Marshal's Service, investigators were able to locate Cruz at 2:45 a.m. walking through the Stockton neighborhood.
Cruz was taken into custody without incident and transported back to San Mateo County where he was booked into jail on homicide charges.
Cruz is suspected of pulling the trigger in a fatal shooting near Orange Memorial Park Monday afternoon.
Officers initially responded around 2:45 p.m. Monday to a report of a group of people involved in an altercation in the 600 block of First Lane, police said.
As officers were responding, they received word the group left the area and walked to nearby Orange Memorial Park, located at West Orange Avenue and North Canal Street, according to police.
There, the altercation escalated and a person in the group took out a handgun and shot two people, police said. The victims each suffered a single gunshot wound to the abdomen and were taken to San Francisco General Hospital.
One of the victims, identified Tuesday as 20-year-old Nicholas Gomez of South San Francisco, died at the hospital. The other victim is in stable condition, according to police.
Cruz was initially identified as an "armed and dangerous" person of interest on Tuesday, but was later confirmed as the suspect in the shooting.
Police have not released a possible motive for the shooting, but did say that it did not appear to be gang or drug related.
