Two Dead and Two Injured in Shooting at Moss Landing Beach in California

Two people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting just after midnight Monday, Nov. 2, near Jetty Road in Moss Landing, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Monterey County Cmdr. Andy Rosas confirmed the shooting took place just after midnight near Jetty Road. When deputies arrived, they found two people dead at the scene from gunshot wounds, Rosas said. A third person was found at the scene and taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and a fourth person was found after arriving at a local hospital with gunshot wounds. Authorities have not released the victims’ names.

North County Fire Protection Chief Jess Cortez told KTVU that when his crews arrived, they found two people with gunshot wounds to the chest and one person with minor injuries. Both gunshot victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and the scene was cleared about 2:40 a.m., Cortez said.

No suspect or motive yet

At a press conference Monday, Rosas said detectives have no suspect information and no motive to share. “We are very early in this investigation,” Rosas said. “It is very important we not speculate as to what happened here. We do not have those details. This is going to be a lengthy investigation. Our detectives are doing everything they can to try to resolve this.”

Crime scene investigators were at Jetty Road, and Rosas said investigators were also at a second location in the area that could be connected. “We are processing that out of an abundance of caution as part of our investigation,” Rosas said. “At this time, we do not know if that is related to this incident.” No arrests have been made.

Beach closed during the investigation

California State Parks Police closed Jetty Road and Moss Landing State Beach at the request of the sheriff’s office, and residents were asked to avoid the area. The beach closes at sunset, so anyone at the park at the time of the shooting would have been there after hours, said Chief Ranger Mike Dippel of the Monterey District. People living on boats docked at Moss Landing told the Salinas Californian they heard gunshots and shouting early Monday morning.

The sheriff’s office said there was “no active threat to the Moss Landing Community at this time.” Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (831) 755-5111.

Reporting based on coverage by the Salinas Californian and KTVU.