SUSPECT IN FATAL SHOOTING SPREE PLEADS NOT GUILTY
A 22-year-old man accused in a shooting spree in Spring Valley and San Diego that left one man dead and three others hurt pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges including murder and attempted murder.
Jaime Gonzalez III was arrested Friday, about 30 minutes after the third and final shooting in the series, which includes three other victims who were shot at but not injured.
San Diego police say the victims were targeted randomly. In each case, the shooter got out of his vehicle, walked up to the victims and shot them.
Officers found Gonzalez based in part on a description of the car the shooter was driving, and police said the officers likely prevented additional shootings.
If convicted, Gonzalez faces 227 years to life, plus two years in prison.
San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen on Wednesday ordered Gonzalez, who appeared in court via a video feed from jail, to remain in custody without bail.
The deputy public defender who represented Gonzalez at his arraignment did not make any further statements about the charges and allegations in court beyond entering the plea on her client’s behalf.
The first shooting occurred about 8:10 p.m. on Dovecrest Court near Lamar Street in Spring Valley. The shooter missed his target, and no one was hurt, police said.
About 15 minutes later,
gunfire erupted at a trolley station on Akins Avenue near 62nd Street in the Encanto neighborhood of San Diego, where the shooter opened fire on four teens, police said. Two of them
were struck — a 15-year-old boy who suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body and arms, and another 15year-old boy was shot in the arm. Both teens were taken to a hospital and are expected to recover.
Two other boys, ages 15 and 16, were not injured, police said.
The final shooting occurred about 9:15 p.m. on Manzana Way near Goode Street in the Bay Terraces neighborhood, where two men were stuck, police said. One of them — Raul Rojas Valdez, 32 — suffered multiple gunshot wounds and sharp force injuries, and died before he could be taken to a hospital.
The other man, 34, was shot in his upper body and taken to a hospital. He is expected to recover.
Police suspected the shootings were likely connected based on descriptions of the shooter and his silver Chevrolet Cruze, Lt. Steve Shebloski said. Officers flooded several neighborhoods and located a vehicle that matched the descriptions on Paradise Valley Road near South Worthington Street, just outside San Diego city limits near Spring Valley and about a mile northeast of the last shooting scene.
Gonzalez, who lives in Lemon Grove, was arrested without a struggle. Inside the vehicle, officers found a 9mm handgun — a ghost gun. Ghost guns are usually assembled by hand from parts that lack serial numbers.
“Very good work by these officers in terms of their observation skills and knowing the area’s major thoroughfares,” Shebloski said Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege Gonzalez was carrying a loaded gun that was not registered to him.