UPDATE: Salinas Police identify Monday night triple homicide victims

UPDATE 9/29/15 6 p.m.: Salinas Police say Monday’s triple shooting in East Salinas has all the hallmarks of a gang-related shooting. It happened at an apartment complex on Elkington Avenue. Officers found 22-year-old Brando Lerma, 20-year-old Brianna Gossett and 17-year-old Bryan Hernandez all with multiple gunshot wounds. A neighbor heard the commotion and jumped into action.

“The only thing one thinks when they hear bullets is to run and look for their children,” Elias said. “That’s the only thing one thinks. You go out and you are faced with the surprise of people on the ground. Yeah unfortunately, I saw the victims on the ground. I tried to help them but, yeah.”

Three candles mark the area where the three victims were shot and killed. Police say two people, one possibly armed with a handgun walked up to the car with two victims inside and started firing.

“It has all the signs of being gang related,” said Salinas Police Commander Vincent Maiorana. “There were some things officers were out there to determine, investigators as well, that leads us to believe it was possibly gang related.”

While it’s not known whether the victims had gang affiliations, their neighbor called them hard working people.

Their deaths bring the city’s 2015 homicide rate to 27. The all-time high was in 2009 with 29 homicides. There’s one big difference this year.

“In 2009 when we had 29 homicides they were all gang related,” Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin said. “That’s not the case this year.”

Despite the spike in violence, Chief McMillin wants to emphasize Salinas is safe.

“The people who are engaged in firearms violence lead a very high risk lifestyle,” Chief McMillin said. “They typically are gang members. They hang around with other gang members. They engage in high risk behavior that puts them in risk of firearms violence.”

But for people like Elias, shootings are becoming an all-too-frequent reality.

“You look at yourself,” Elias explained, “You look at your children and you start to see that your children are growing up in the middle of this cycle of crime.”

He hopes his neighbors will come forward if they know anything. At this time, police are having a tough time following leads on this case.

The only suspect description we have right now is two males dressed in dark colored clothing last seen running from the scene.

UPDATE 9/29/15 11:35 a.m.: Salinas police detectives are investigating a triple homicide Monday night on Elkington Ave.

On Tuesday, the department released the names of those three victims. Detectives said Brando Lerma, 22, and Brianna Gossett, 20, were both from Nevada and Bryan Hernandez, 17, was from Salinas.

UPDATE 9/29/15 4:33 a.m. According to the Salinas Police Department, officers were dispatched to a shooting with three victims at 726 Elkington Avenue.

When they arrived on scene, they found two deceased victims (one male and one female) in a car in the parking lot. A third victim was found in the parking lot, outside of the car. That victim was transported to Natividad Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. All of the victims had been shot multiple times.

The victims in the car appeared to be in their early twenties. The third victim was 17-years-old. The names of the victims will not be released pending notification of family.

This case is being investigated as gang related. Two males dressed in dark clothing were seen running from the scene.

PREVIOUS STORY: Salinas police are investigating a shooting that left three people dead Monday night.

According to police, it happened on the 700 block of Elkington Avenue around 9:30 p.m.

Officers told News Channel 5 two men and one woman were killed in the shooting.

There is no suspect information at this time. Police also don’t have a motive.

This is the 27th homicide in Salinas so far this year. Seven people have been killed in September alone.