A man was killed and another wounded in a shooting near the Westfield UTC shopping mall in the University City neighborhood of San Diego Saturday night, according to San Diego police.
Investigators believe two men in a vehicle were targeted in an attack near Nobel Drive and Lombard Place Saturday, according to a news release Sunday from SDPD. The suspect approached the car on foot, firing into the vehicle and striking both victims, police said. Shots were reported around 8:41 p.m. close to Palisade UTC, which is a collection of luxury high-rise apartments, according to its website.
Responding officers found a man down in the street and another near a car in front of the apartment's parking garage, SDPD said. Both men were taken to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.
The 35-year-old man found in the street did not survive and was pronounced dead at the hospital, SDPD said. Police later released the identification of the deceased man as Christian Espinoza Silver, a Mexican citizen.
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The second man, 39, survived and remained in the hospital Sunday morning. Investigators have not yet disclosed the identity of the 39-year-old man.
Police said the suspect took off on foot westbound. The suspect was wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants, a black backpack and black pants.
No weapon was recovered at the scene, SDPD said.
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Several residents of the apartment complex told NBC 7 bullets struck their property. One neighbor who did not want to be identified said a bullet struck and shattered their front window. The bullet went through her living room and into a bookcase, she told NBC 7.
Another neighbor said a bullet went through his upstairs bedroom and nearly struck him. And, a third neighbor, Annette Saxowsky, said a bullet struck a vehicle in the parking garage.
"I was laying in bed and I heard this pow pow pow pow pow, five times," Saxowsky said. "It's just, that kind of thing doesn't happen around here very often - very often? It doesn't happen at all.”
Nobel Drive was closed for several hours in both directions between Genesee Avenue and Towne Centre Drive due to the investigation, police wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The situation was isolated to the street and was not an active shooter situation, according to SDPD Officer Darius Jamsetjee.
"The mall is not involved," Officer Jamsetjee said.
The incident alarmed nearby resident Melissa Fulton who said shootings are not common in her neighborhood.
Fulton was coming home from a bonfire when she found that police blocked off all access to her house as officers investigated the shooting.
