911 call reveals chaotic scene after shooting
Nicole C. Brambila • The Desert Sun • December 2, 2008
Buzz up! Authorities on Monday released a chilling 911 call from the Black Friday shooting that left two men dead inside a crowded Palm Desert toy store.
Throughout the two-minute-and- 40-second call, parts of the conversation are drowned out by women screaming and crying in the background.
“They're both down,” a woman told a 911 dispatcher. “They're both down. Please hurry. There are all sorts of kids here in the store.”
Shots rang out about 11:15a.m. at the Toys R Us store in Palm Desert on one of the busiest shopping days of the holiday season. When police arrived, they found two men had been fatally shot and two handguns nearby. The men were later identified as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City.
As reported on mydesert.com, Moreno's daughter in television reports on Monday alleged a long-running dispute between her father and Meza.
Witnesses to the Black Friday shooting described a gruesome murder-suicide.
“I never thought that they would pull a gun out,” Ray Turner of Palm Springs said. “Kids were running around without their parents. Next thing you know, he's got a gun and he shot him. It wasn't a pretty sight for kids. I mean, he nailed him.”
On Friday, in the hours after the shooting while police questioned more than two dozen people, witnesses said they saw the 5 foot 6 inch-tall Meza confront two larger men and draw his gun.
One witness said he saw both the bodies in a pool of blood and Meza with what looked like a self-inflicted wound under his chin and foam in his mouth.
Few details are known about the men. Meza was born in Indio, but he and his family moved to Cathedral City, said Albert Perez Jr., his defense attorney. The Cathedral City High School graduate was one of nine brothers and sisters. Meza has a 3-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, Perez said.
The Riverside County coroner's office has has not released its report.
Television news reports on Monday alleged that Meza and Moreno had a long-standing dispute. Palm Springs attorney Mark Sullivan, who is representing the Moreno family, speculated that Meza was a police informant because of the light sentences the 28-year-old received for felony firearm possessions, the latest in March.
“I'm not able to confirm that at all,” said Herlinda Valenzuela, a Riverside County Sheriff's spokeswoman.
Sullivan could not be reached by The Desert Sun for comment.
Three days after the deadly shooting, it was business as usual at Toys R Us. The store reopened on Saturday, extending its Black Friday deals.
“Since Friday, our focus has been on supporting our employees in the Palm Desert store,” she wrote.
Desert Sun reporters Colin Atagi, Michelle Mitchell and Rasha Aly contributed to this report.
Nicole C. Brambila • The Desert Sun • December 2, 2008
Buzz up! Authorities on Monday released a chilling 911 call from the Black Friday shooting that left two men dead inside a crowded Palm Desert toy store.
Throughout the two-minute-and- 40-second call, parts of the conversation are drowned out by women screaming and crying in the background.
“They're both down,” a woman told a 911 dispatcher. “They're both down. Please hurry. There are all sorts of kids here in the store.”
Shots rang out about 11:15a.m. at the Toys R Us store in Palm Desert on one of the busiest shopping days of the holiday season. When police arrived, they found two men had been fatally shot and two handguns nearby. The men were later identified as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City.
As reported on mydesert.com, Moreno's daughter in television reports on Monday alleged a long-running dispute between her father and Meza.
Witnesses to the Black Friday shooting described a gruesome murder-suicide.
“I never thought that they would pull a gun out,” Ray Turner of Palm Springs said. “Kids were running around without their parents. Next thing you know, he's got a gun and he shot him. It wasn't a pretty sight for kids. I mean, he nailed him.”
On Friday, in the hours after the shooting while police questioned more than two dozen people, witnesses said they saw the 5 foot 6 inch-tall Meza confront two larger men and draw his gun.
One witness said he saw both the bodies in a pool of blood and Meza with what looked like a self-inflicted wound under his chin and foam in his mouth.
Few details are known about the men. Meza was born in Indio, but he and his family moved to Cathedral City, said Albert Perez Jr., his defense attorney. The Cathedral City High School graduate was one of nine brothers and sisters. Meza has a 3-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, Perez said.
The Riverside County coroner's office has has not released its report.
Television news reports on Monday alleged that Meza and Moreno had a long-standing dispute. Palm Springs attorney Mark Sullivan, who is representing the Moreno family, speculated that Meza was a police informant because of the light sentences the 28-year-old received for felony firearm possessions, the latest in March.
“I'm not able to confirm that at all,” said Herlinda Valenzuela, a Riverside County Sheriff's spokeswoman.
Sullivan could not be reached by The Desert Sun for comment.
Three days after the deadly shooting, it was business as usual at Toys R Us. The store reopened on Saturday, extending its Black Friday deals.
“Since Friday, our focus has been on supporting our employees in the Palm Desert store,” she wrote.
Desert Sun reporters Colin Atagi, Michelle Mitchell and Rasha Aly contributed to this report.
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