Weapon found by local kids not linked to recent gang killing
A revolver found in a creek behind a Del Monte Ave. residence last week is not the weapon used to kill Luis Santos Bautista, 19, of Gilroy, according to Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Joe Sampson.
The results from ballistics tests at the Santa Clara County Crime lab, released to police Thursday, show the Colt .38 revolver was not the one that fired the bullets found at the scene of the crime, Sampson said.
It is not clear if the revolver was involved in the commission of any crime, Sampson said Thursday.
“We don’t know how long it had been there,” he said. “We have nothing to link it to another crime at this time.”
Neighborhood children playing in the creek found the gun wrapped in a cloth Oct. 19 and gave it to the resident of the home in the 17500 block of Del Monte Ave. The resident then turned it over to police.
The bullet found at the scene of the homicide – behind the Safeway grocery store in Tennant Station shopping center – matches a bullet taken from Bautista’s body. Police suspect the bullets were either .38 or 357 caliber rounds, but they did not match the gun found in the creek.
Bautista, an alleged Sureño gang member, was apparently the victim of a gang retaliation by rival Norteños, according to police and witnesses, who reported seeing several young men chasing Bautista before he was shot four times.
Anthony James Frausto, 18, of Morgan Hill, is being held without bail in the Santa Clara County Jail for Bautista’s murder. Two alleged accomplices, a white male and a Hispanic male, both in their late teens or early 20s, are being sought in connection with the killing.
Sampson said MHPD detectives are still investigating the case.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
