War113
06-11-2011, 01:50 AM
SANTA ANA CA.
A homicide investigation is under way after an unarmed security guard was shot and killed outside an apartment complex in Santa Ana.
The shooting was reported just before midnight Friday on the 1400 block of South Townsend Avenue.
When officers arrived, they found the man, identified as 24-year-old Jaime Alberto Villacorta, shot to death in an alley.
Villacorta had "at least one" gunshot wound, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The security guard was not armed and was responsible for protecting the entire apartment complex, Bertagna said.
A motive was not immediately known.
"At this point we don't know if he was responding to some incident that was occurring here or he was the victim of a crime himself," Bertagna told KTLA.
A man identifying himself as Villacorta's stepfather said the security guard had problems in the past with "racist" people in the area. He also said the security guard feared for his safety and wanted to carry a gun.
"There is some gang activity in the neighborhood," Bertagna said, adding that it was not yet known if gangs were responsible for the shooting.
Residents of the apartment complex said Villacorta recently had at least two run-ins with gang members. During one confrontation, Villacorta was said to have been so scared that he ran and hid inside a laundry room.
Villacorta leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.
A homicide investigation is under way after an unarmed security guard was shot and killed outside an apartment complex in Santa Ana.
The shooting was reported just before midnight Friday on the 1400 block of South Townsend Avenue.
When officers arrived, they found the man, identified as 24-year-old Jaime Alberto Villacorta, shot to death in an alley.
Villacorta had "at least one" gunshot wound, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The security guard was not armed and was responsible for protecting the entire apartment complex, Bertagna said.
A motive was not immediately known.
"At this point we don't know if he was responding to some incident that was occurring here or he was the victim of a crime himself," Bertagna told KTLA.
A man identifying himself as Villacorta's stepfather said the security guard had problems in the past with "racist" people in the area. He also said the security guard feared for his safety and wanted to carry a gun.
"There is some gang activity in the neighborhood," Bertagna said, adding that it was not yet known if gangs were responsible for the shooting.
Residents of the apartment complex said Villacorta recently had at least two run-ins with gang members. During one confrontation, Villacorta was said to have been so scared that he ran and hid inside a laundry room.
Villacorta leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.