Juan Carlos Balderas, 21, of Encinitas died shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday in a Madison Street lot adjacent to the park, authorities said.Balderas was at the park with a group of fellow gang members who were later arrested for the shooting, Cain said."It is possible that this was not their intended victim," the lieutenant said.
Police believe that, before the weapon was fired, Balderas and his fellow Encinitas gang members were in some kind of a conflict with someone from Carlsbad, Cain said. One of the Encinitas gang members fired, the confusion and darkness perhaps contributing to Balderas being struck, he said.By the time police arrived, Balderas was dead. According to the medical examiner's office, he died from a shotgun wound to the chest and armpit region.Witnesses in the residential neighborhood reported seeing people running away, Cain said.By Monday evening, police had arrested three men who Cain described as gang members who accompanied Balderas to Carlsbad. A shotgun was recovered Sunday at the La Costa home of one of the men, Javier Lopez, 19, Cain said. Police believe it was the gun that killed Balderas.Jose Angel Barraza, 26, and Victor Virjilio Lopez, 21, were arrested Monday in connection with the shooting, police said. Victor and Javier Lopez are not related, Cain said.
On Tuesday, Barraza and Javier Lopez were being held at the Vista jail without bail on charges including murder and participating in a criminal street gang, according to county booking logs. Victor Lopez was being held on a parole violation.The killing occurred in a residential area south of downtown Carlsbad claimed by the city's only documented gang, Cain said. He said the Encinitas gang members possibly headed to Carlsbad looking for trouble with their sometime-rivals.

 Edit Post