By Jon Chown
MOSS LANDING — Two people were found dead and two others were injured following a shooting early Monday near Moss Landing State Beach, according to Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Commander Andres Rosas.
Deputies, along with State Park police and California Highway Patrol officers, responded to a report of multiple gunshots shortly before 2 a.m. Nov. 2 along Jetty Road, which leads to the state beach. When officers arrived, they found two people who were pronounced dead at the scene. Both appeared to have suffered fatal gunshot wounds, Rosas said.
A third person was taken from the scene to a local hospital with injuries initially described as non-life-threatening. Investigators later learned that a fourth person had arrived separately at a hospital with gunshot wounds, Rosas said. The conditions of the two hospitalized victims had not been confirmed as of Monday afternoon.
Rosas said investigators had not identified the victims or determined what led to the gunfire. He would not say if the victims were male or female and he did not know whether the people involved knew one another. Although two people were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds, he said investigators had not determined whether the deaths were homicides, suicides or the result of other circumstances.
Detectives were also examining a second location near the shooting scene where a party was said to have been taking place. Rosas said investigators had not found evidence connecting that location to the shooting.
“We believe this is an isolated incident,” said Mike Dipple, chief ranger for the Monterey District of California State Parks. He added that additional patrols would be added to the beach.
The beach closes at sunset and there is a gate at the entrance, but Dipple said it is kept unlocked because a lot of residents use the beach early in the morning and there isn’t staff to unlock it.
Jetty Road and Moss Landing State Beach were closed Monday while deputies and detectives continued collecting evidence and investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Wipple said it reopen as soon as investigators were finished.
Rosas said investigators were still working to determine exactly what happened and urged anyone with information about the incident to contact the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s very important that we do not speculate what happened here,” he said.