Two dead, two injured in south Modesto shooting. First homicides in city this year
Two men are dead and two others injured following a shooting on Lassen Avenue in south Modestoon Wednesday night.
Police responded to a report of multiple people shot in the 1100 block of Lassen at around 10:34 p.m. and found four people outside, all suffering from gunshot wounds, according to a press release.
A 36-year-old man and a 54-year-old man, both of Modesto, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other men were injured. One was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with serious injuries and the other was treated at the scene and declined to be taken to a hospital, according to a Modesto Fire Department incident summary.
Police have not released the names of the deceased.
Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said there are no suspects at large but would not say if someone is in custody or if a suspect — or suspects — was among the dead.
Asked if the the case was possibly a murder-suicide she said, “I have no indication of that.”
A resident who lives near the homicide scene and declined be identified told The Bee the two men killed were neighbors who’d lived in the area their whole lives. He said he was friends with both and they were good guys “as long as they weren’t around each other.”
Another resident at the same home described both men as “hardheaded” and said they had a longtime beef.
The two deaths mark Modesto’s first and second homicides of the year and the third and fourth in Stanislaus County. The first two homicides in the county were both in Turlock in January within a day of each other.
Any witnesses or anyone with further information about this case should contact Modesto Police Department at 209-572-9500, Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636. Or you can reach out to Homicide Detective Josh Lawrence at 209-572-9642.
