Three Escondido men were behind bars Tuesday in connection with a shooting that left one man dead and two others wounded outside of a North County supermarket, police said.
The Escondido Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide and Gang units identified Hector Ortiz, 25, Omar Magadan, 21, and Eric Nieto, 20, as suspects in the shooting that left Miguel Fuentes, 35, dead outside a Vons store in the 300 block of West Felicita Avenue on July 30.
The suspects have been held in Fuentes’ shooting death for nearly two weeks, Escondido police Lt. Eric Skaja said, an assertion that was confirmed by jail records. Ortiz, Magadan and Nieto were arrested Sept. 5 and 6 on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and other related offenses.
The victim’s brother, Martin Fuentes, 32, and a companion, Wesley Smith, 28, were wounded in the attack, Skaja said.
Skaja said the three victims were sitting in a vehicle around 8:15 p.m. and got into an argument with the suspects as they approached. At some point during the dispute, one of the suspects pulled a gun and opened fire into the vehicle.
Ortiz, Magadan and Nieto fled following the shooting, Skaja said.
Miguel and Martin Fuentes suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were taken in a private vehicle to Palomar Medical Center before police arrived, Skaja said. Arriving officers found Smith with a gunshot wound to his leg and had him taken him to the hospital.
Miguel Fuentes died at the trauma center. His brother and Smith were treated and released, Skaja said.
Anyone with additional information on the shooting was asked to call (760) 839-4782 or (760) 743-8477.
– City News Service