Oceanside police are looking for the person who fired a shot through a bedroom window of an apartment, killing a 26-year-old man early Tuesday morning.
Family members said Alex Hamilton was shot in the head around 1 a.m. in his College Boulevard apartment.
“They shot him close. They shot him right in the head,“ Hamilton's mother, Lelese, said.
The victim's neighbors Richard and Lilly Cabrera greeted Hamilton's grieving mother and his twin brother, Brandon, with open arms on Tuesday night as the two came by to pick up his belongings left in the apartment.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
“He’s the best guy in the world. He didn’t need to die. He shouldn’t have died,” Brandon said.
According to Hamilton's roommate, there was a small gathering of friends in the courtyard outside of the apartment. The whole thing was recorded on a security camera just inside the first-floor window.
There was some arguing between Hamilton and three of his friends, and the party broke up just around 10 p.m., his roommate said.
Two-and-a-half hours later, his roommate says three people that were at the party were recorded walking past that camera. Not long after, there was a shot fired into the victim’s bedroom.
The bullet pierced the window, ricocheted off the frame, then struck Hamilton in the head.
“We just heard a big pop. It sounded like a firecracker going off," Lilly said.
Richard and Lilly were playing a board game in the apartment just above the victim’s.
“We were too scared to even look out the window, but within 10 minutes, we heard like 20 cop cars come in here," Lilly said.
Oceanside police say besides Hamilton, there were two women inside the victim’s apartment at the time. One of them was his best friend and roommate. Fearing retribution, she is keeping out of sight.
Friends and family describe Hamilton as kind and hardworking.
“He was a really nice guy. We talk to him every day,” Lilly said.
His death is unsettling and leaves the neighborhood on edge.
“I think we are all pretty shaken up because it did happen right under our apartment. It's pretty scary being here," Lilly said.
Hamilton was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Both women inside the apartment at the time hid in a bathroom and were not injured.
