BAY POINT—Authorities believe that a fatal shooitng on Tuesday, June 23 in Bay Point, might be related to the murder of a man driving on Highway 4 just three days prior.
“We, at this time, believe that there may be some relevance between the two shootings,” Captain Dan Hoffman of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “(Citizens) should have no concern about driving down Highway 4.”
Tuesday night’s shooting took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. near the crossing of Willow Pass Road and the westbound on-ramp to Highway 4.
Receiving reports of shots fired, officers promptly responded to the East Bay location, where both the victim and suspect had already fled the scene.
When authorities arrived on scene, the two gunshot victims had sped-off in their bullet-peppered vehicle to Concord’s John Muir Medical Center.
One of the victims, a 19-year-old named Patricia Ochoa, of Concord, succumbed to her wounds in the hospital. The second shooting victim, an unidentified 26-year-old male Bay Point man, is expected to survive his injuries.
It is believed that the double shooting might be connected to the murder of 20-year-old Tómas Mendez, who was gunned-down while driving his green Sedan eastbound on Highway 4.
Mendez, a cook at the popular San Ramon restaurant Katy’s Corner, had celebrated his father’s birthday at the restaurant just hours prior, a workplace that Mendez shared with his father, the head chef.
The father of a two-year-old daughter, Mendez reportedly brought a joyous personality to the business, one that server Andrew Smith fondly recalled in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
“Tomas was very personable. He had a joyous, really boisterous personality, told a lot of jokes and stuff like that. He was a fun-loving guy,” Smith said. “He came to work, he did his job.”
Though no suspect profile has been released, authorities say that Mendez’s shooter was driving a white sedan, possibly a Honda. Police have not arrested in suspects in connecting to the fatal shootings.
To date, no arrests have been made in connection with either fatal shooting.
