UPDATE - Police this afternoon released the jail booking photos of four men arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of two men. A police news release offered no new details on the killings, which led to a huge manhunt in the early hours of Monday morning.
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A double homicide near Modesto’s Village I neighborhood Monday touched off a seven-hour manhunt in which SWAT teams searched house by house for the armed suspects.
The deadly events started about 12 a.m., when two men were gunned down at a house near Coffee Road and Floyd Avenue. Officers chased four armed suspects into the Village I neighborhood, as suspects fired at officers from a pickup truck.
The suspects ditched the truck and fled on foot. At one point during the manhunt, a suspect forced his way briefly into a home in a gated community, police said.
No police or residents were injured.
Police arrested four men in the shootings. Officers at first thought a fifth suspect may have been involved, but none was found during the intensive search, police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen said.
The search shut down a quarter-square-mile area in northeast Modesto, a quiet residential area of mostly newer homes. About 3,300 residents received phone calls from county emergency services starting at 4 a.m. warning them to lock their doors and stay inside.
A helicopter, police dogs, and SWAT snipers were deployed during the search. Police arrested the last suspect at 6:43 a.m. but officials did not send out an all-clear phone call until shortly before 4 p.m.
Police released few details about the shootings. Investigators are talking to witnesses and others who could have information about what happened, Findlen said.
Family and friends identified the shooting victims as Mark Anthony Ochoa, 19, of Ceres and Christopher Joseph Diaz, 20, of Modesto. Police are investigating whether the shooting was gang-related, Findlen said.
Ochoa's mother and girlfriend said Ochoa wasn't involved in gangs but had a wide circle of friends, which could have included gang members. Ochoa's girlfriend, Amanda Temores, said she last heard from Ochoa about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
He called her to say he was going to bed, because he was starting his first day of classes at Modesto Junior College on Monday.
At 12:02 a.m., a 911 caller reported that someone had been shot at 2625 Maxine Drive, near Coffee Road and Floyd Avenue. Friends of Christopher Diaz said he lived at the Maxine Drive house and was talking with Ochoa when they were shot in the driveway.
The events that followed taxed local law enforcement, with about 50 officers and deputies responding. Officers arrived at the Maxine Drive house two minutes after the first 911 call about the shooting, Findlen said. A caller reported seeing shots fired from a dark-colored Ford pickup that sped away.
Less than three minutes later, a Modesto police officer saw a vehicle matching the pickup truck heading east on Floyd Avenue near Oakdale Road. As the officer gave chase in his patrol car, suspects in the pickup fired at him. Another patrol car joined the pursuit, which sped on for about a mile and a half. Suspects continued to fire at the police cars as they drove along Boston Way.
Scroll down to see a Central Valley Report video
The pickup then slowed. More shots were fired as passengers jumped out of the truck and ran. The pickup pulled onto Suncrest Court, which dead-ends into a cul-de-sac, and parked in a driveway. Police arrested the pickup's driver, Eric Arguello, 18, of Modesto, Findlen said.
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