A man accused of gunning down a 17-year-old Moreno Valley boy and wounding his friend was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Manuel Gomez, 52, of Moreno Valley was arrested last week following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Along with murder, Gomez is charged with attempted murder and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The defendant, who is being held in lieu of $10 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Mendoza, at 6:35 p.m. Thursday, patrol deputies were called to a county fire station in the 13000 block of Glorybower Street, near Cottonwood Avenue, on the west end of Moreno Valley, regarding a gun assault.
Mendoza said the victims, the 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man, identified only as Moreno Valley residents, had gone to the station seeking medical aid after they were shot at an unspecified location. Firefighters were rendering emergency treatment when deputies arrived.
Paramedics pronounced the younger of the two victims dead at the scene. The other one was taken to nearby Riverside University Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening wounds. He was in stable condition Tuesday.
Central Homicide Unit detectives took over the investigation and identified Gomez as the alleged perpetrator within 24 hours. He was detained in the city without incident and taken to the sheriff’s Moreno Valley station for questioning, culminating in his formal arrest Friday afternoon.
A possible motive for the attack wasn’t provided.
Gomez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.