Authorities Identify Suspect Already in Custody for November Shooting
1300 block of 2nd Street
COACHELLA – Following a more than month-long investigation, authorities identified a man believed to be responsible for a local drive-by shooting.
On Tuesday, December 1, when Pedro Gonzalez, 18, of Coachella arrived at the Larsen Justice Center regarding an unrelated case, the Coachella Community Action Team arrested him for his alleged involvement in a shooting which occurred on Wednesday, November 11.
Pedro Gonzalez
According to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the shooting occurred on November 11 at 8:58 p.m. on the 1300 block of 2nd Street in Coachella. An investigation revealed that the incident involved multiple subjects who were in the backyard of a residence when a white vehicle cruised down an alley behind the yard. At that time, it was reported that a suspect leaned out the window of the vehicle and fired multiple rounds into the backyard. The vehicle fled the area in an unknown direction, but was later located on Cairo Street.
None of the victims at the home were injured as a result of the gunfire.
Riverside Sheriff’s Department Thermal Station Investigators responded and assumed the investigation, and were later able to identify Pedro Gonzalez as a suspect, but his whereabouts remained unknown.
When Gonzalez was located at the Larsen Justice Center, he was arrested and booked into the Riverside County Jail in Indio. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, and committing a felony while out on bail, as well as firearm enhancements.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Investigator Edward Ortega at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Thermal Station at (760) 863-8990. Information can also be reported anonymously through Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP(7867).
