LATHROP – A “large party” held at a residence on Frewert Road in Lathrop over the weekend ended in tragedy with the shooting death of a 19-year-old male.

The victim was identified by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office as 19-year-old Luis Angel Barraza of Hayward.

Investigators are asking the public to help in the apprehension of the suspect. According to the Sheriff’s reports, the only description of the suspect given by witnesses is that of a Hispanic male, 20 to 25 years old and wearing dark clothing.

The police report also stated that witnesses reported the shooting to have taken place during a party held at the abovementioned residential location.

According to the report pieced together by investigators, Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report at 2 a.m. Sunday about a “disturbance with gunshots heard and a possible shooting victim” at the 700 block of West Frewert Road in rural Lathrop.

When the deputies arrived at the scene, they found the shooting victim lying on the ground in front of the residence where the party was taking a place. The victim had gunshot wounds to his upper body. First aid and CPR were administered to the wounded victim and was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

Investigators are still trying to put together the details that led to the deadly shooting. They only have limited information to work on at this time, with only scant descriptions given of the suspect in the shooting who was described as a Hispanic male wearing dark clothing.

The investigation is continuing.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to help in the investigation by contacting the Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (209) 468-4425, or “Text a Tip” to “274637” and in the message area, type SJSO, after a space, then your tip.

Frewert Road is a rural area north of Lathrop on the west side of Interstate 5. It is an unincorporated county area; however, it is within Lathrop’s sphere of influence.

It was at this same road where the large composting fire occurred at the Valley Organics which resulted in an air alert for a few days last week.

In June, a father and son from Patterson were found shot to death inside a van parked on a levee road near Paradise Cut just west of Interstate 5 and west of Lathrop.  The incident was ruled as a murder-suicide, with the 41-year-old father shooting his 10-year-old son before turning the gun to himself.