Two people have been taken into custody, San Leandro police said, after a quadruple shooting in the parking lot of a popular Latin nightclub.
Lt. Robert McManus said on Tuesday that the men were arrested in connection to the shooting at Club Caliente, and identified them as Carlos Cervantes and Salvador Lopez Aguilera.
McManus said investigators think the shooting might have been a hate crime since it appears the suspects targeted the victims because of their sexual preference. Cervantes and Aguilera got into "a verbal altercation" with the four victims and made statements about the victims' sexuality, police said.
Cervantes then went to Aguilera's van, retrieved a high-powered semi-automatic handgun, returned to the parking lot and joined Aguilera in making additional statements about the victims' sexuality, according to McManus.
Four people were struck by gunfire at Monday at 1:55 a.m. at Club Caliente in the 14600 block of E. 14th Street. All four were taken to the hospital, he said, and are expected to survive.
"Club Caliente is a very, very, very popular, primarily Hispanic club, a dance club with a full bar inside with security on scene," McManus said after the shooting. "Sunday nights seems to be the most popular night for the club. It’s drawing people from all around the Bay Area."
Police believe that Cervantes was planning to flee the Bay Area and the state, according to McManus.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
