Suspected gang members twice pulled into the parking lot at Grandview Park on Friday, yelled gang slurs and flashed gang signs just hours before a Santa Cruz teen was fatally shot in the Westside park, witnesses said.

Carl Thomas Reimer, 19, was with friends at the park when the gang members drove up. The second time, the teens yelled at the gang members to leave, according to Nick Micheli, whose 18-year-old son was with Reimer at the park on Friday.

Around midnight, Reimer was shot twice in the upper torso and once in the arm as he and another teen went to retrieve a bike and a skateboard they had left in the park next to Mission Garden apartments on Grandview Street. Reimer died Saturday morning at Valley Medical Center in San Jose.

The 15-year-old was not injured.

Police have said the deadly shooting was gang-related. Micheli and others suspect the gang members seen at the park earlier Friday may have been casing the park for a gang initiation and that the shooting was planned.

Santa Cruz police have said little about what led to the circumstances of the shooting. Reimer's family has said the teen, a 2009 Santa Cruz High graduate who loved to surf, didn't have gang ties.

"He is a good kid and he's always been a good kid," Micheli, who is close friends with Reimer's father, Joe, and coached the teen's Little League team years ago. "I just want people to know he's not a gang kid. It's just not like that."

Santa Cruz police detectives met with investigators from the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office to collaborate on the case, Santa Cruz Police Chief Howard Skerry said.
"They have a number of leads and people to contact on follow up," the chief said. "The next step is what they're doing right now that's the gathering of the information. ... We've got tips already coming in."

Police also went back to Grandview Park to scour the creek and surrounding area for the gun used. No weapon was found, said Micheli, who was with investigators at the park Monday.

Also, no suspects have been identified, Skerry said.

The night of the shooting, Reimer and several friends, including Micheli's son, gathered at an apartment in the Mission Gardens complex by the park to barbecue. Micheli said some of the teens drank beers but that the event broke up around 11 p.m. Reimer, who was scheduled to work at 8 a.m. Saturday, left with the 15-year-old.

Moments later, the teens still at the barbecue heard at least six shots ring out, Micheli said. Police have said little about what happened during the attack, except to that Reimer was shot at close range.

"They weren't out there doing anything that would warrant something like that," Micheli said. "This is pretty heavy duty for someone to come up and take someone's life."

The 15-year-old helped Reimer back to the apartment complex, where the injured teen collapsed on the doorstep of another friend's home.

Residents of Mission Gardens apartments will meet with police later this week to talk about the violence and discuss what residents can do to help police prevent crime in the area, according to information from the apartment management.

Micheli, who owns a restaurant on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, said he plans to go with 30 to 40 people to search for the gun again and also is trying to set up meetings with business leaders to address gang issues.

"I'm not going to sit around and let this tragedy disappear," Micheli said. "Someone's got to be brought to justice. ... This could happen tomorrow again."

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting call the Investigations Bureau at 420-5820 or the anonymous tip line at 420-5995.

2010 SANTA CRUZ COUNTY HOMICIDES

n April 24: Carl Reimer, 19, was shot three times at Mission Garden apartments, 90 Grandview St., in what police say was likely a gang-related attack. A 15-year-old friend of Reimer's was not hit in the incident, which unfolded about midnight April 23. Reimer died at Valley Medical Center in San Jose at 6:45 a.m. April 24. The suspect was described as a thin Latino man, 5 feet 7 inches tall, wearing dark clothing. He fled the scene.

n April 15: James Chimblis, 67, fatally shot his stepson, 39-year-old Richard Jones, then turned the gun on himself. The murder-suicide on Hutchinson Road off Highway 35 came days before the two men were due to face each other in court at a trial. At issue was if a family partnership should be dissolved so the joint property - a Summit-are home where Chimblis lived - could be sold and proceeds divided between the two men and Chimblis's former wife, Carol, who was Jones' mother. Investigators said the double shooting was motivated by the family's financial and legal disagreements.

n Feb. 28: Deanna Dudley, 37, died after her boyfriend allegedly hit her in the head with a flashlight in the couple's Felton home. Sheriff's deputies arrested Richard Chavez, 40. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and remains in County Jail awaiting a July 19 preliminary hearing.

n Jan. 23: Alejandro Nava-Gonzalez, 21, and Oscar Ventura, 18, were fatally shot in an apartment on Canfield Street in Santa Cruz during an argument over a small amount of money. Jaime Galdalmez Guevara, an 18-year-old alleged gang member and heroin dealer, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, attempted murder and special allegations that multiple murders were committed and that he used a firearm. Guevara remains in County Jail and returns to court June 28 for a preliminary hearing.

n Nichole 'Nikki' Schrock, 24, of Seaside was gunned down by her ex-boyfriend while she worked at the 7-Eleven at Ocean Street and Broadway in Santa Cruz on New Year's Day. Illya 'IC' Cavlan, 42, of San Jose then turned the gun on himself.

To date, there have been no homicides reported in Capitola, Scotts Valley or Watsonville this year.