National City police are seeking a gunman who killed an 18-year-old driver and wounded his 17-year-old passenger on Sunday, then sped away in an accomplice’s sedan.
The suspects’ silver, gray or dark-colored Nissan Altima was seen following the victims’ vehicle as its driver — identified by police as Juan Carlos Munoz of San Diego — pulled over near the intersection of East 16th and Prospect streets shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, according to the National City Police Department.
Shortly afterward, a passenger in the Altima got out, walked up to the victim’s vehicle’s drivers side and opened fire, police said. Both victims were shot while they sat in their car.
The shooter was driven away before police arrived. The Altima was last seen heading east on 16th Street, police said.
Area residents called for help and administered first aid to the victims until officers and paramedics arrived.
Munoz died while en route to a hospital. Police said his passenger, a National City resident, was hospitalized with a single gunshot wound to his left thigh and was expected to recover.
Police described the gunman as a tall and heavyset Hispanic man wearing a white shirt. His motive was a mystery this morning.
— City News Service