Photo: shooting scene
WALNUT CREEK — One man has been arrested in connection with a shooting at a shopping center, and two other suspects remain at large. The shooting happened downtown in broad daylight.
Multiple gunshots were fired on May 21 in a parking lot near San Miguel Center, located on Newell Avenue. Gunfire was reported to police at 6:23 p.m.
Responding officers found bullet casings, shattered glass and blood on the pavement. Two gunshot victims were transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
Police reviewed video recorded by a surveillance camera. It shows two men armed with handguns, wearing masks, approach a parked car, and immediately shoot a male passenger.
The driver who was inside the car with one of the victim’s returned fire at the two assailants. Two other cars parked nearby were struck, and an innocent bystander sitting inside one of them was also wounded.
Two of the suspects fled from the area in a light-colored sedan, before officers arrived on the scene.
However, the driver who returned fire was arrested. The driver is 27-year-old John Rankin of Detroit.
Rankin was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle.
The investigation of the shooting incident is ongoing. WCPD have released a video and is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the two outstanding suspects.
Anyone with information can call Walnut Creek police detective Greg Leonard at 925-256-3523.
