Two gang-related shootings last week in Stanislaus County involved Ceres residents as both victims and suspects.
On Tuesday, July 28 a shooting in the La Loma area of Modesto took the lives of a Ceres native as well as a 10-year-old boy. Killed were Jason Cyphers, 29, who was raised in Ceres, and a 10-year-old son of suspected gang member Epifanio Ramirez, 34, who was wounded.
The shooting took place at a duplex in the 100 block of Santa Barbara Avenue, off Yosemite Boulevard, about 11:30 p.m. A witness said she watched a green Saturn circle the block twice before parking blocks from the house. Two men got out of the car and "just started spraying (bullets)."
A relative of Cyphers said that Jason was not a gang member and likely at the duplex visiting a friend when he got hit by stray bullets.
The 10-year-old boy died Friday morning after never regaining consciousness.
Ramirez was identified by Modesto police as one of the victims. He was shot in the finger and lost it, said police. Modesto Police Sgt. Brian Findlen said Ramirez has an extensive criminal history and associations with criminal street gangs in Modesto. Two weeks before the shooting Ramirez was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and one count of possessing a sawed-off rifle which was not registered in his name.
Teen charged in Wednesday death
Three suspects, including a Ceres teen, were arrested in Wednesday's fatal drive-by shooting at a Modesto home.
The shooting took place at 6:11 p.m. at 601 Broadway Avenue in Modesto and was gang related, said Stanislaus County Sheriff's deputies.
Alberto Schopp, 23, of Modesto, was found dead in the street near a car by the time deputies arrived.
Witnesses gave deputies a vehicle description of the suspect vehicle which led to the arrest of a 17-year-old Ceres boy early the next morning. The suspect, whose name was not released because a state law protecting the identities of minors, was booked into Juvenile Hall for murder. Later on Thursday, detectives arrested Ulises Carenas Sanchez, 19, in west Modesto and Rafael Lopez-Camacho, 22, at 628 Alturas in Modesto. Both were booked for murder.
Detectives believe they have everyone they are looking in-custody for this murder.
On Tuesday, July 28 a shooting in the La Loma area of Modesto took the lives of a Ceres native as well as a 10-year-old boy. Killed were Jason Cyphers, 29, who was raised in Ceres, and a 10-year-old son of suspected gang member Epifanio Ramirez, 34, who was wounded.
The shooting took place at a duplex in the 100 block of Santa Barbara Avenue, off Yosemite Boulevard, about 11:30 p.m. A witness said she watched a green Saturn circle the block twice before parking blocks from the house. Two men got out of the car and "just started spraying (bullets)."
A relative of Cyphers said that Jason was not a gang member and likely at the duplex visiting a friend when he got hit by stray bullets.
The 10-year-old boy died Friday morning after never regaining consciousness.
Ramirez was identified by Modesto police as one of the victims. He was shot in the finger and lost it, said police. Modesto Police Sgt. Brian Findlen said Ramirez has an extensive criminal history and associations with criminal street gangs in Modesto. Two weeks before the shooting Ramirez was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and one count of possessing a sawed-off rifle which was not registered in his name.
Teen charged in Wednesday death
Three suspects, including a Ceres teen, were arrested in Wednesday's fatal drive-by shooting at a Modesto home.
The shooting took place at 6:11 p.m. at 601 Broadway Avenue in Modesto and was gang related, said Stanislaus County Sheriff's deputies.
Alberto Schopp, 23, of Modesto, was found dead in the street near a car by the time deputies arrived.
Witnesses gave deputies a vehicle description of the suspect vehicle which led to the arrest of a 17-year-old Ceres boy early the next morning. The suspect, whose name was not released because a state law protecting the identities of minors, was booked into Juvenile Hall for murder. Later on Thursday, detectives arrested Ulises Carenas Sanchez, 19, in west Modesto and Rafael Lopez-Camacho, 22, at 628 Alturas in Modesto. Both were booked for murder.
Detectives believe they have everyone they are looking in-custody for this murder.
