Three Manteca teenagers – two boys and a girl – were detained at gunpoint after citizens reported shots being fired around the community over a four-hour period from a white van the youths were driving.
The boys were arrested, taken to the police station, given citations and released to their parents. A .357 magnum Smith &Wesson revolver was recovered from a back pack officers found on the center console between the front seats along with bullets discovered in the pocket of the driver. Four spent cartridges remained in the cylinder of the gun when officers confiscated the weapon.
One of the youths reportedly told officers they were shooting up in the air with police noting the danger present when those rounds come back down to the ground. People have been killed by just such stray bullets, they said.
Police first received a call claiming shots were being fired at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the 800 block of Nevada Street – being fired out of a white SUV that left the area.
At 2:30 another caller told a police dispatcher shots were being fired near Main and Alameda streets again from a white Ford Astro Van. At 4:39 a.m. shots were reported being fired again at Fremont and Pine streets. A Ford Astro Van was identified by neighbors seen leaving the area.
Officer Eddie Cardenas located the van in the 400 block of North Lincoln Avenue. With the help of officer Travis Martin and other graveyard shift officers two 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old girl were taken into custody and cited for firing a weapon from a motor vehicle in a residential section. The girl was determined not to be involved in the shootings and was not cited, police said.
All three youths were interviewed at the police station.
The boys were arrested, taken to the police station, given citations and released to their parents. A .357 magnum Smith &Wesson revolver was recovered from a back pack officers found on the center console between the front seats along with bullets discovered in the pocket of the driver. Four spent cartridges remained in the cylinder of the gun when officers confiscated the weapon.
One of the youths reportedly told officers they were shooting up in the air with police noting the danger present when those rounds come back down to the ground. People have been killed by just such stray bullets, they said.
Police first received a call claiming shots were being fired at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the 800 block of Nevada Street – being fired out of a white SUV that left the area.
At 2:30 another caller told a police dispatcher shots were being fired near Main and Alameda streets again from a white Ford Astro Van. At 4:39 a.m. shots were reported being fired again at Fremont and Pine streets. A Ford Astro Van was identified by neighbors seen leaving the area.
Officer Eddie Cardenas located the van in the 400 block of North Lincoln Avenue. With the help of officer Travis Martin and other graveyard shift officers two 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old girl were taken into custody and cited for firing a weapon from a motor vehicle in a residential section. The girl was determined not to be involved in the shootings and was not cited, police said.
All three youths were interviewed at the police station.
