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SALINAS, Calif.-- Neighbors are fed up with gang violence on their streets. Some say its gotten so bad that they're moving out.
On Friday night one man was shot to death in his car in the Acosta Plaza parking lot in Salinas. The next morning it was a completely different scene. Children were playing in the streets like nothing happened.
18 year old Joel Flores Amador came to rest in a parking space just a few feet from his front door. He was shot several times in the head and chest. The two men that shot him are still on the loose. Most of the neighbors who live along the same road did not want to go on camera for their own safety but they all said one thing in common. There's a lot of violence in the neighborhood and it needs to stop.
Now this neighborhood is left torn. On Saturday Deborah Aguilar came to the neighborhood to speak with the family. She works with grieving families who've lost their children to gang violence. This is the second time she's been to this neighborhood this year. "Right now the family's in shock and its traumatizing and they're in disbelief. Its like a dream. It tears up families in so many different ways its like the whole world just falls," said Deborah Aguilar.
Mayra Salcedo moved into the neighborhood in 2009. She's worried about the safety of son. She doesn't sleep well at night knowing there's a chance a stray bullet could hit her home. "You know a lot of my friends get killed out there and its very sad for me because I'm afraid for my kid and you know I'm scared. I want to see him grow up and be somebody important," said Salcedo.
Violence in the neighborhood is becoming an every day thing for kids who live here. "When kids are describing to you what they saw last night and what the victim looked like. That's sad because its like normal to them and that's not okay," said Aguilar.
For some families it's the last straw. "We've been thinking of moving out of this area and just try to keep my son away from everything," said Salcedo.
Police are trying to piece together what happened Saturday night. Two suspects left in a stolen car that was set fire later that night, destroying evidence police need to find the killers. "The fire obviously is going to destroy a lot of forensic evidence that we are looking for. We're hoping we'll have witnesses come forward," said Commander Dave Shaw.
Anyone with information is asked to call Salinas Police.
