SAN DIEGO—Police were asking for help June 18 from anyone who witnessed a fight and a subsequent fatal shooting last night at a Juneteenth celebration at the sprawling Liberty Station complex in Point Loma.
The shooting took place around 6:45 p.m. Saturday in NTC Park at 2455 Cushing Road in the Liberty Station neighborhood, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). A 20-year-old man was killed and another 20-year-old man was wounded in the leg but is expected to survive.
Officers performed life-saving measures on the fatal victim until paramedics from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department arrived and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:24 p.m. His name is being withheld pending family notification.
Detectives reported that a fight broke out prior to the shooting and moments later, the suspect pulled out a handgun and shot both victims before fleeing the scene. Police are still determining whether the victims were participants in the fight, were targeted by the suspect for an unknown reason, or were innocent bystanders, but the preliminary investigation indicates that the shooting was an isolated incident related to the fight.
The suspect was described as a man in his 20s wearing dark clothing.
Police said there were numerous persons who were in and around the park that witnessed a portion of the shooting and provided limited descriptions of suspects. Detectives are currently in the process of interviewing those witnesses, gathering physical evidence from the crime scene, and checking the area for any surveillance video footage.
“Detectives have learned there were numerous persons that fled the area when the shooting occurred,” police added. “The San Diego Police Department is asking for the public’s help with anyone who may have witnessed this incident.”
Anyone with information about the incident was urged to call the SDPD’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
