The victim of the shooting homicide Saturday morning in
Hollister was a teenage girl, according to neighbors and a
relative. Police responded around 2:40 a.m. Saturday to a house at
the corner of East Park Street and Sherwood Drive in Hollister,
near Rancho San Justo Middle School. Outside the home, they found
the female victim who had been shot in the upper abdomen and later
died.
The victim of the shooting homicide Saturday morning in Hollister was a teenage girl, according to neighbors and a relative.
Police responded around 2:40 a.m. Saturday to a house at the corner of East Park Street and Sherwood Drive in Hollister, near Rancho San Justo Middle School. Outside the home, they found the female victim who had been shot in the upper abdomen and later died.
As police continue looking for an identified person of interest, 17-year-old Robert Rodriguez of Hollister, neighbors Saturday had varying recollections about the girl’s age – saying it was between 14 and 16.
Police found the girl on the front lawn of the property, said Hollister police Capt. David Westrick, along with neighbors who witnessed the aftermath and pointed out where authorities blocked off the body.
A woman at the scene late Saturday morning, across Sherwood Drive near the lawn where authorities found the wounded girl, was visibly distraught and identified herself as the victim’s aunt. Sobbing, she questioned continually why her niece had been shot and killed.
“She was just looking for a boyfriend,” said the woman, who mentioned her deceased niece’s age as 14, before declining to talk further and walking away to gather herself.
Other neighbors thought the girl was 15 or 16, while authorities have not confirmed a precise age. One of those neighbors was Isidro Fregoso, who lives across the street and observed the police investigation after her death.
“It’s just a child, man,” Fregoso said. “It’s very sad. There’s nothing we can do.”
Fregoso was among several residents Saturday who expressed concern about increasing criminal activity in the neighborhood. As he talked about the homicide, he pointed just a block away and recalled a shooting that occurred early last Sunday in the 1000 block of Sherwood Drive. In that occurrence, someone fired a single shot into a residence and struck a man walking in the hallway, causing a minor wound.
At the house where the homicide occurred, three residents came to the door – an adult woman and man, along with a male who is either a teenager or young adult – but they declined to comment on the situation. The property sits on the southeast corner at the intersection, a block from Rancho Drive.
It was otherwise quiet in the neighborhood on the sunny day. Of the neighbors in the area, some knew of the early-morning homicide and most were aware that police had responded to something there.
Hollister police Capt. David Westrick on Saturday said investigators with the police department and sheriff’s office checked for clues throughout the area after the incident, reported by an anonymous caller who noted there had been one shot fired.
Responders initially made efforts to resuscitate the girl, Westrick said. After she was pronounced dead at the scene, the department called for all of its resources Saturday morning to help in the investigation and search, and got assistance from the county sheriff’s office.
Investigators’ questioning led to identifying Rodriguez as a person of interest, while it is unclear if one or more people were involved.
Westrick could not immediately confirm the girl’s age and said he did not know the connection between Rodriguez and the victim. A watch commander at the sheriff’s office, which acts as the county coroner, did not immediately return a call requesting the name or age of the victim.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the victim,” Westrick said. “We’re hoping for swift justice.”
