"People can say all they want, is or isn't [gang-related], but the truth is we don't know if it is or isn't," Costa Mesa Interim Police Chief Steve Staveley said.
Witnesses saw a white man in his 20s, with a shaved head, a mustache and a goatee leave the scene in a silver or metallic blue, four-door Chevrolet Impala. The shots were reportedly fired from inside the Impala but no one saw the gun, police said.
Police would not release information about the weapon, saying it was part of an ongoing investigation, Costa Mesa Sgt. Bob Ciszek said.
Miguel Barcenas, whose brother Ivan Barcenas was wounded and survived the shooting, said he heard about nine shots fired that night.
"I grew up here and I've never heard anything like this before," Barcenas said. "And there's no reason; that's the sad part."
His brother was "hanging out outside" when the gunfire broke out, Barcenas said.
"It's sick. You can tell the car was not from around here," Barcenas said of the gunman's car.
The neighborhood near West Baker Street and Warren Lane has not been a trouble spot for police until now, Ciszek said.
Wednesday's shooting death marks the fourth homicide this year in Costa Mesa. In 2005, statistics show there were three homicides.
Costa Mesa city officials said Thursday the shooting concerns them, but City Council members didn't agree on how to address it.
"When you have job centers, soup kitchens and a high concentration of downscale rental units, it drives the city down," Mayor Allan Mansoor said. "I favor a multi-faceted approach including stronger gang enforcement and overlay zone revitalization, and I also think a social worker holding the hand of a hardened gang member has not worked in other cities."
But Councilwoman Katrina Foley said this type of crime is what police should focus on.
