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2 gang members held in killing
Jannise Johnson, The Sun Staff Writer Article Launched: 05/04/2008 08:25:09 PM PDT
REDLANDS - A 48-year-old man is dead and two gang members are in custody following a shooting in a park Saturday afternoon.
Redlands police officers responded to Jennie Davis Park about 1:30 p.m. after getting calls about a shooting, according to a police news release.
Officers found the man dead of gunshot wounds when they arrived.
The name of the man was not released.
Witnesses told officers the man was shot after he got into an argument with two other men who had run south through the park and down New York Street, according to the release.
A Redlands police helicopter assisted in the search. Police set up a perimeter around an apartment complex at New York and State streets. The two men left the apartment around 4:30 p.m. and surrendered without incident, according to the statement.
Peter Soto, 21, and his brother Paul Soto, 18, were arrested on suspicion of murder, according to the release.
The two are known members of a Rialto street gang, said Carl Baker, spokesman for the Police Department.
"I don't believe we had contact with them, but Rialto (police) have," Baker said. "They're in the state system as documented gang members."
After the men surrendered, investigators obtained a search warrant for their apartment and found a gun.
This is the first homicide for Redlands this year, Baker said. The city had no homicides in 2007.
The park where the shooting occurred is usually a safe area, Baker explained. There was an assault a few weeks ago across the street from the park but, "generally there aren't a whole lot of problems in that park."
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