A 23-year-old Manteca man was murdered at a residence east of Manteca.

San Joaquin County Sheriff deputies said they responded to a call of a shooting Monday at 2:06 a.m. in the 12000 block of East Highway 120 near Jack Tone Road.

It was there that deputies found Andrew Spino suffering from gunshot wounds. Spino was transported to a Modesto hospital where he later died.

Jay Loren Prater was arrested and booked into county jail on murder charges.

Tuesday afternoon a relative told The Bulletin that the victim was shot twice in the back at a point near an irrigation canal where at least two suspects were believed to have fled into nearby fields.  Sheriff’s deputies cordoned off the crime scene with yellow tape and ordered a helicopter into the air to search for two to three people they felt might be responsible.

Prater turned himself into authorities later while others remain at large.  A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department said he could not comment other than saying a homicide had taken place and noted that they were investigating.

Neighbors near the property said they had been told to keep their workers out of the fields Monday morning, not knowing if the responsibles were still in the vicinity.