Modesto shooting leaves man in critical condition

A shooting Wednesday morning in west Modesto left one man in critical condition and had authorities searching for the gunman, police said.

The shooting occurred about 8 a.m. in the 1400 block of Ritsch Lane near Beverly Drive. About 20 minutes later, Modesto police found the victim in a white Mercedes stopped on the H Street overcrossing of Highway 99, the car facing in the wrong direction.

The victim was undergoing surgery Wednesday afternoon, according to Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputy Anthony Bejaran.

According to neighbor Jose Garza on Ritsch Lane, three men in a white vehicle – not the Mercedes – drove up to a house and got out of the vehicle. They went to a home and, minutes later, two came out carrying the victim.

“Two came out carrying the other guy,” Garza said. “They threw him in the (Mercedes) and jumped in. … (Another) guy came out – he had a motorcycle helmet on – he took three shots at them.”

The three left the first white vehicle behind and drove away in the Mercedes, Garza said, and the man wearing the helmet got into a white SUV and gave chase.

Bejaran confirmed that two men in the Mercedes with the shooting victim were detained for questioning. He would not say if they were looking for the fourth man in a white SUV.

“Detectives are here on Ritsch Lane trying to determine who lives in the house and what relationship the victim has to the residence, if any,” Bejaran said.

Deputies, with the help of a police dog, did a security check of the home to ensure no one was inside, and detectives were waiting for a warrant to do a more thorough search.

Garza said deputies have been to the home in the past few weeks. Bejaran would not confirm, but crime mapping statistics show several calls for disturbing the peace in the past month in the 1400 block of Ritsch.

This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Modesto shooting leaves man in critical condition."