Palm Springs police investigate shooting outside of Smart and Final store Sunday

Ani Gasparyan, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·2 min read
Security camera footage shows two men police are seeking after a reported shooting on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, outside the Smart and Final store at East Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs, Calif.
Security camera footage shows two men police are seeking after a reported shooting on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, outside the Smart and Final store at East Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs, Calif.

Palm Springs police are investigating a shooting outside of the Smart and Final store on Ramon Road on Sunday afternoon.

Police received reports of gunshots in the 5200 block of East Ramon Road around 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the Palm Springs Police Department. Witnesses told officers that two men had been in a fight that escalated into them shooting at each other, police said.

Security camera footage released by the Palm Springs Police Department shows a man pointing a gun on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, outside the Smart and Final store at East Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs, Calif.
Security camera footage released by the Palm Springs Police Department shows a man pointing a gun on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, outside the Smart and Final store at East Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs, Calif.

The suspects fled the area before officers arrived. There were no injuries from the shooting reported as of Monday. Police said they were investigating the incident as an attempted homicide.

Police said one of the suspects was a Black man with a heavy build, black hair and beard who was wearing a dark-colored shirt, light-colored pants and gold necklace.

Security camera footage shows one of the men police are seeking after a reported shooting on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, outside the Smart and Final store at East Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs, Calif.
Security camera footage shows one of the men police are seeking after a reported shooting on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, outside the Smart and Final store at East Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs, Calif.

The other suspect was a Black man with a slender build, beard and long hair in a bun who was wearing a multi-colored shirt and shorts, police said.

A Smart and Final manager told The Desert Sun questions would have to be directed to Smart and Final’s corporate office. The corporate office could not be reached for comment Monday.

Police would not say how many shots they believed were fired, or whether any bullet casings were recovered at the scene.

The shooting comes less than a week after a man was found dead nearby at the Walmart shopping center parking lot in the 5600 block of Ramon Road on Jan. 11.

A man was found dead with “obvious signs of trauma” near the new Raising Cane’s restaurant around 1:22 a.m. that day, police said. Witnesses told officers that there was an argument between two people, they heard gunshots, and a car was seen leaving the area before the body was found. The identity of the man has not been released.

Sgt. Mike Casavan said police do not know yet if the two incidents are connected.

The department asked witnesses or anyone with information on the incident to contact Detective Edman Escallada at 760-323-8129 or call anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 760-341-7867.

Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs police investigate shooting outside of Smart and Final