Police: Baseball fan shot after game
LAURA WIDES, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, September 20, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...035EDT0096.DTL
(09-20) 18:00 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --
A sister and brother were being held Saturday in the death of a man shot in a parking lot dispute after a Dodgers loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Mark Antenorcruz, 25, of Covina, was shot once in the upper body Friday night as he headed for his car. The shooting at Dodger Stadium followed an argument over the teams, though it was unclear who the victim and the suspects were rooting for, police said.
"It's clear the argument was in some way related to the game," Deputy Chief Gary Brennan said. Detectives were still investigating the details of the fight, but alcohol appeared to have been a factor, he said.
Detectives were searching for a third suspect, a 17-year-old boy from South Gate, Brennan said.
The woman, described as in her 30s, and her 22-year-old brother were arrested for investigation of murder. Their names were not released.
On Saturday, police searched the woman's home in unincorporated county territory about 25 miles east of Los Angeles and recovered a .25-caliber semiautomatic firearm, which they believe was the murder weapon, Brennan said.
Brennan said Antenocruz got into an argument with three people, two men and one woman, and that one of the male suspects went to his car, pulled out a gun and fired. The group then drove off.
Antenorcruz's brother followed the car as far as he could, then told a passing driver about the shooting. The driver pursued the suspects' vehicle and wrote down its license plate number, which police used to track down and arrest the suspects.
Initially the woman, her husband and her 22-year-old brother were arrested, but the husband was released after witnesses said he was not involved in the shooting. Brennan said the husband was cooperating with police.
On Saturday, Dodger spokesman Derrick Hall expressed his condolences to the family of the victim.
"On behalf of the Los Angeles Dodgers, I'd like to say how sad we are by the tragic incident," Hall said.
Hall said the stadium remains a safe and "family friendly" site. He noted that alcohol is not served after the 7th inning, and that both private security and Los Angeles police officers patrol the parking lot. He said they responded to the shooting within seconds.
Brennan said security would be beefed up Saturday night for the second game of a three-game set between the two teams. He described Dodger stadium as a safe place and said the shooting was the first he could recall there.
The Giants clinched the NL West on Wednesday. Friday's loss, meanwhile, dropped the Dodgers three games behind Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race.
The Giants did not immediately return a call for comment Saturday afternoon.
©2003 Associated Press