Ceres shooting victim expected to survive. Subject in Dodge pickup sought
The person shot multiple times near the Hatch Road exit of Highway 99 on Friday night in Ceres is expected to survive, a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said Sunday morning.
Deputies were dispatched about 8:42 p.m. Friday to assist Ceres police officers on a report of a person shot, sheriff’s Sgt. Luke Schwartz said.
The shooting was determined to have occurred in the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating. The initial finding is that the assailant’s and the victim’s vehicles both got off southbound Highway 99 and turned east on Hatch Road, Schwartz said. The assailant’s vehicle made an abrupt lane change, and someone inside fired into the victim’s vehicle.
The victim, a 29-year-old whose identity has not been released, was treated at the scene by medical responders and then taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The victim’s injuries were listed as “critical” in a Modesto Fire Department report, but Schwartz on Sunday said the wounds were not life-threatening.
The motive for the shooting has not been determined, Schwartz said, and the only suspect description is of a Latino male in an older-model silver or gray Dodge pickup truck.
According to online posts, the shooting caused traffic to be stopped in the area for a couple of hours as law enforcement officials investigated.
Any witnesses to the shooting, or anyone with information about it, are urged to call the Sheriff’s Office nonemergency line at 209-552-2468 or Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. Tips also can be submitted via www.stancrimetips.org.
