Authorities on Thursday publicly identified a young man killed last week in a suspected gang shooting.
Patrol officers responding to a report of gunfire shortly after 7 p.m. Friday found Robert Emilio Simmons, 20, wounded at Montgomery-Waller Community Park in the 3000 block of Coronado Avenue, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Simmons died at the scene.
His mother started a GoFundMe page to raise $5,000 to help the family “lay Robert to rest the way he deserves to be.” In the post, she called her only son, who had three younger sisters, “an amazing big brother, but he was also a loyal and solid friend that appreciated everything that was given to him.”
Donors had given $3,340 of the $5,000 goal as of Thursday evening.
Paramedics took another gunshot victim, a 19-year-old man, to a hospital for treatment of apparently non-life-threatening wounds.
Investigators have determined that the two victims and a third youth had just arrived at the Otay Mesa park together when they were confronted by another group of males, at least one of whom issued a gang challenge, Lt. Jud Campbell said.
The possible gang members then hurled bottles at the victims before one or more of the suspects began shooting, Campbell said. After Simmons and his companion were hit, the assailants fled, possibly in a white sedan.
No suspects in the case have been identified, according to police, who called it “an open and ongoing investigation.”
– City News Service
Updated 7:15 p.m. May 11, 2023
