Live Oak drive-by shooting victim expected to survive

LIVE OAK >> A 32-year-old Santa Cruz man shot in the area of Soquel Drive and Winkle Avenue on Wednesday afternoon is expected to recover from his injuries.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office issued a countywide alert to be on the lookout for two vehicles believed to have been involved in the drive-by shooting, reported shortly after 4 p.m.

According to dispatches, emergency responders were called to assist a man described as a pedestrian who had been shot from a passing vehicle in the 2300 block of Soquel Drive near Dominican Hospital. Witnesses

reported three shots fired.

The primary vehicle in question was described by witnesses as a black BMW with silver rims last seen headed southbound on Soquel Drive. Reportedly, there were two Hispanic male adults younger than the age of 30 years inside and at least one was described as having dark hair and wearing a backward baseball cap and dark sweatshirt. A white Dodge Ram also was reported speeding away from the scene, according to dispatches.

“The exact cars and suspect(s) involved are still being investigated. We cannot confirm any identifying information regarding either at this time,” Sheriff’s

Office spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said Thursday.

Soquel Drive between Chanticleer and Winkle avenues, and later from Thurber Lane to Mission Drive, was closed while deputies investigated. The shooting victim was airlifted to an out-of-county hospital for treatment.

Wednesday’s shooting comes on the heals of two separate fatal Watsonville shootings last week. Asked if there may be any connection between Watsonville’s and the Soquel Drive shootings, Keehn said detectives were looking at “all aspects of this shooting.” Investigators had yet to determine whether or not the Live Oak shooting was gang-related or had any ties to the recent shootings in Watsonville, she said.

This part of Soquel Drive also is no stranger to gun violence. Not far from Wednesday’s shooting, a man survived being shot several times Dec. 6 on the 3100 block of Winkle Avenue.

Before that, on Feb. 2, 2020, an 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of firing a gun at passing Sunday afternoon traffic in the area of Winkle Avenue and Soquel Drive. And Ivan Villalobos, 26, was shot and killed while eating nachos on the steps of a nearby Soquel Avenue apartment complex office April 8, 2018.