A 21-year-old father of two was returning from a visit to his brother's grave, a family member said, when he was shot to death in a possible gang related shooting near two schools in Pomona, California, on Thursday.
Joe Morales was killed in the shooting that occurred at South Park and Lexington avenues at 2:45 p.m., officials said. It happened outside of Garey High and Lexington Elementary schools, both of which were briefly locked down as a precaution. No students were hurt.
Diana Claustro showed up to the crime scene Thursday night after learning her uncle had been shot.
"He was coming from seeing his brother at the cemetery," she said. "He went to go buy him flowers. He was coming home already. He was gonna go home already."
A second vehicle was also involved and was abandoned down the street.
Police used a drone to investigate the crime scenes, spread over several blocks. They believe the driver of a stolen BMW SUV was wounded and may be responsible for a carjacking near a hospital in Montclair.
Witnesses were angry that a shooting happened so close to school.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
"My main thought was how close it was time to getting out of school," said Dora Riley. "And there could have been a lot more kids getting out and got hit."
Tony Shin contributed to this report.
