SANTA ANA : Drive-By Shooting Victim, 15, Dies

A 15-year-old boy shot in the head during a drive-by shooting near Rancho Santiago College on Tuesday has died from his injuries, police said Wednesday.

Jose Padilla, 15, of Santa Ana became the 48th person to die in a gang-related shooting in the city so far this year. The city has experienced a record 79 homicides, surpassing the previous record of 59 set in 1991, said Sgt. Art Echternacht.

“We certainly hope this is an isolated year and that this trend doesn’t continue,” Echternacht said. “It’s really unfortunate that we’ve had such a bad year, but I know that Chief Paul Walters and everyone else are doing all they can to curb this violence.”

Padilla was walking in the 1500 block of West Washington Street with a group of friends when he was struck by a bullet fired from a passing car at 1:12 p.m. No one else in the group was injured.

Moments after words were exchanged between the group and the occupants of the car, several shots were fired from the vehicle.

Padilla fell onto the front lawn of a house of a registered nurse who heard the shots, then ran out and found the wounded teen-ager. The nurse checked the victim’s vital signs, then prayed with him until an ambulance arrived.

Padilla was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he died at 3 a.m. Wednesday, the coroner’s office said.

No arrests have been made in the shooting, and police do not have a description of the vehicle last seen speeding west on Washington Avenue.