Two Arrested in Connection to Tulare Gang Drive-By Shooting

Two Tulare men were taken into custody on February 7, after a traffic stop uncovered a loaded revolver and pointed to a drive-by shooting that occurred three days earlier.

On the evening of February 4, three people were in their car, in a residential driveway in Tulare, getting ready to back out, when a vehicle containing 3 or 4 Hispanic males drove up, fired 2 shots and drove off, according to Tulare Capt. Jerry Breckinridge. One of the bullets hit the car, but none of the people were injured in the shooting.

The Tulare Police Gang Task Force was working on the case, looking for a car that matched the description of the one carrying the shooter and his companions, when, on February 7, officers caught sight of the gray Ford Contour driven by Daniel Gomez Villa, 22, of 19199 Road 80 in Tulare, according to Tulare Police records. They wanted to know more about this car in connection to the drive-by shooting, so they pulled the vehicle over.

The officers found a loaded revolver in the care with Villa and Armando Daniel Flores, 22, of 21978 Rd. 36 in Tulare. Villa and Flores are known to the officers to be gang members and were taken into custody on charges of attempted murder and active gang members in possession of a concealed weapon, according to Tulare Police.

The investigation into the shooting continues.