By Khalida Sarwari
Watsonville investigators are searching a car belonging to suspects involved in the fatal gang-related shooting of a Prunedale man in a Target store parking lot over the weekend for any clues that might lead to their arrest.
Police seized an abandoned green Honda Accord in Watsonville on Saturday night in connection with the shooting at the Target located at 1415 Main St.
Around 6:15 p.m. that evening, the victim, Gustavo Saragoza Diaz, and his 25-year-old girlfriend were walking out of the store toward their car when a Honda Accord drove by them.
The Accord circled the parking lot and approached them again as they reached their car, according to police. The car stopped and someone inside opened fire, hitting the couple, before the driver accelerated away, police said.
Diaz died at the scene. His girlfriend was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital to be treated for injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
Police have not determined Diaz’s exact age but believe he was 19 or 20.
Sgt. Saul Gonzalez, a spokesman for the Police Department, said Diaz was affiliated with a gang.
The shooting is being investigated as gang-related, but it does not appear to be connected to other recent murders in Santa Cruz County, police said.
Detectives are looking for new information from possible witnesses to the shooting who were walking or driving in the parking lot, which had a steady flow of traffic that evening.
Police are not saying where they located the Accord, but Gonzalez said it was not in the Target parking lot. He said investigators are processing evidence they recovered from the car.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Watsonville Police Department’s investigations division at (831) 786-3350 or the crime tip line at (831) 786-3544.