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Sunday, Apr. 13, 2008

Boy, 13, is shot at gas station

Daytime incident on Maze Boulevard gang-related, cops say

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A 13-year-old Modesto boy was injured in a brazen daylight shooting Saturday afternoon in front of a gas station on Maze Boulevard in west Modesto, police said.

The boy was shot in the stomach and taken by ambulance to a Modesto hospital, where he had surgery, said Sgt. Ed Steele, a Modesto police spokesman. His condition was unavailable Saturday night.

To ensure the boy's safety, police did not release his name.

Investigators believe the shooting was gang-related. Steele said the victim is a Sureño gang member.

Steele said the shooting occurred shortly before 1 p.m. at the Shell gas station at Maze and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Two suspects were seen fleeing the scene in a tan pickup truck. Steele said the driver was a woman and the passenger, who allegedly fired a handgun, was a man.

Investigators were following leads on a possible suspect Saturday night and were seek- ing to obtain search warrants, Steele said.

A few nearby residents said the victim appeared to arrive at the gas station in a gold car with three other males, possibly teenagers, before the shooting occurred. The residents declined to give their names because of safety concerns.

They said the victim appeared to be walking out of the store when he was shot. One of the young men was kneeling over the injured boy, who was lying on the ground near the store's front entrance, the residents said.

The young men were not wearing gang colors, the residents said, and the victim was wearing brown pants and a black shirt. Sureños, or Southerners, are known to wear blue clothing. Their rivals, Norteños, or Northerners, are known to wear red.

Other neighbors who heard the gunshots ran out of their homes and gathered near the gas station to see the dramatic scene.

Police cordoned off the gas station's parking lot and gas pumps to collect evidence from the crime scene. By 6 p.m., the yellow crime scene tape was removed and the gas station resumed business.

Modesto police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call CrimeStoppers at 521-4636. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.