A late-night shooting over the weekend rattled a quiet neighborhood in southwest Morgan Hill that surrounds an elementary school and is interwoven with creeks lined with public walking and cycling paths.
One man was injured as a result of the shooting, which occurred early in the morning April 1 near the intersection of Vineyard Boulevard and La Crosse Drive. The incident stemmed from a road rage dispute that began up the road, and the shooter was a fugitive from another county wanted on a $4.9 million warrant for attempted murder in the City of Soledad, according to police.
Just after midnight April 1, two vehicles were reportedly involved in the road rage incident that began on Monterey Road just north of San Martin Avenue, according to Morgan Hill Police.
As the vehicles continued north on Monterey Road, the driver of one of the cars brandished a handgun at the two men in the other vehicle, police said. The suspect followed the victims as they turned from Monterey Road onto Vineyard Boulevard, toward La Crosse Drive.
The suspect came to a stop at the intersection of Vineyard and La Crosse. He exited his vehicle and fired one round from the handgun into the passenger’s side of the victims’ vehicle, according to police.
The victims’ vehicle made a U-turn at the intersection, and headed eastbound back toward Monterey Road, police said. The suspect continued firing toward the driver’s side of the vehicle. One of the rounds penetrated the driver’s side door and hit the driver in the lower left leg.
The victim drove to Safeway at Tennant Station, and called 911, according to authorities. He was transported to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries related to the gunshot wound. The passenger of the victim’s vehicle was uninjured.
Police set up a perimeter in the area of Vineyard and La Crosse, and the suspect’s vehicle was found a short distance away, the press release states. MHPD officers located the registered owner of the vehicle, from whom police learned that suspect Alexander Monzon, 19 of Soledad, was driving the car just before the shooting took place.
Police also learned that Monzon was wanted on a $4.9 million warrant for attempted murder out of Monterey County, authorities said.
MHPD requested assistance from Gilroy Police and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. GPD responded with a tracking K9, while the sheriff’s office provided deputies and a helicopter to assist in the search, according to police.
After a “systematic search” spiraling out from where the suspect’s vehicle was located, police found Monzon hiding inside a residence on John Wilson Way, according to the MHPD press release.
Monzon was taken into custody without further incident and booked at the county jail for the warrant and on suspicion of the Morgan Hill shooting, police said.
Residents react
Soledad Police Chief Eric Sills said by email that Monzon is wanted in relation to a shooting in Soledad that occurred in 2016, though he didn’t offer details. He said investigators think that shooting was gang-related.
Residents of two apartment complexes near the intersection of Vineyard and La Crosse in Morgan Hill said they heard five gunshots outside their doors when the April 1 shooting happened.
Tim Hughes, 38, who lives in an upstairs unit just outside the scene of the shooting, said it was “disturbing” to see a “gun battle in the middle of the street” outside his home. He added it seems there has been an uptick in shady activity in the area in recent months, and he hopes the presence of an alleged gang member from Soledad in Morgan Hill is not a sign of a trend.
“If he’s wanted out of Soledad, what the hell is he doing here?” Hughes wondered. “Thank God they found him.”
He said he heard loud tires squealing late Friday night—“not unusual around here”—followed by five “pops” that he immediately took as gunshots.
“Then it sounded like (a car) was trying to get away,” Hughes added.
While the incident marks the first shooting in the neighborhood in the six years Hughes has lived there, he added the area is becoming increasingly populated with “weird creepers,” gang members and drug using vagrants who hang out by the nearby creek during the summer.
“We see police out here all the time looking for people,” Hughes said.
He added he doesn’t blame the police for the apparent uptick in crime, and in fact praised MHPD for responding to the April 1 shooting so quickly.
‘Growing’ town means more crime?
The crime mapping website crimereports.com shows that MHPD, in the last six months, has responded to and processed nearly 20 crimes in the area of Vineyard and La Crosse—including at nearby commercial properties. Property crimes such as breaking and entering, auto burglaries and theft are the most frequent types of incidents listed.
But at another apartment complex across the street from Hughes’ neighborhood on Vineyard Boulevard, two residents contacted by the Times said they still feel safe despite the shooting.
However, both women said it seems in recent months they’ve been hearing more emergency sirens and seeing more police activity throughout town than they did when they first moved into the apartment complex.
“You’re not going to get away from it,” said Sheena, who declined to give her last name. She has lived in the Vineyard Boulevard neighborhood for four years. “It’s a nice little small town, but it’s growing. I feel safe around here.”
Anyone with information about the April 1 incident can contact Det. Fernando Del Moral at (669) 253-4964 or the anonymous tip line (408) 947-STOP (7867).
