Four shootings in Salinas within hours of each other

Salinas Police are investigating four shootings that occurred within hours of each other Friday night into Saturday morning.

The first was reported just after 8:30 p.m. at the intersection of Natividad Road and Chaparral Street. Police said a 21-year-old Hispanic male was driving along Natividad when a vehicle drove up and started firing multiple rounds, striking the victim twice. The victim was able to drive himself to the Natividad Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, said police.

The second shooting happened just after 10 p.m. at the 1300 block of Cherokee Drive, where police said the victim was walking when he was approached by a suspect in a bicycle who fired multiple shots at him. That victim was transported to Natividad medical center for non-life threatening injuries. The suspect in that shooting was described as a white male in his late 20’s wearing a black hooded jacket and black pants.

Both of these shootings are being investigated as gang related.

A third shooting happened Saturday just after 1:30 a.m. outside of the Las Potrancas Club Social on Williams Road. Police said an officer driving down Williams Road was flagged down by a 22-year-old Hispanic male with two gunshot wounds in the leg.

According to investigators, the man was confronted by four suspects about a possible gang affiliation, when one of the suspects pulled out a firearm and shot at the victim. Police were unable to find suspects. The victim does not have life threatening injuries.

A fourth incident happened just before 2:00 a.m. in front of the Fox Theater on Main Street. Police said a fight broke out, that soon led to shots being fired. Nobody was shot, but police said they later found a victim with injuries from a fight. Police do not suspect this incident is gang related.