Ceres Police are hunting for the a man who sprayed rounds from a .45-caliber handgun into a gathering of young men who had engaged in an altercation in the parking lot of Sierra View Apartments, 2121 Moffet Road.

A 12-year-old boy was grazed in the head by a round and taken to a Modesto hospital for treatment and observation, said Ceres Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jose Berber. The wound was not life-threatening.

Reports of a fight among a large group of males - described as whites and blacks - were phoned into police dispatchers at 8:29 a.m. Berber said the males appeared to be a mixture of residents of the apartments and guests. As officers were responding to break up the fight, a male got into a car as a passenger and began to exit the parking lot when the car stopped and the passenger fired back into the group. Sgt. Berber said more than three rounds were fired.

It's unknown if the wounded boy was a part of the altercation.

"We don't believe it was a gang fight," said Sgt. Berber, "and we don't have a motive."

Witnesses were being interviewed as of the afternoon.
Both nearby Carroll Fowler Elementary School and Mae Hensley Junior High School were placed on lockdown for about 20 minutes once it was determined that the shooter fled the area.

The suspect is described as a black adult male in his 20s. He was wearing a blue shirt and tan shorts. The driver of the car was a black adult female, also in her 20's. She was wearing a brownish-gold shirt and black pants. They were last seen driving eastbound on Fowler Road from Moffett Road.

Any with information is urged to call Detective Sgt. Danny Vierra at the Ceres Police Department at 538-5672.