Ukiah police: Boy, 12, shot by 19-year-old

A 12-year-old boy was shot and seriously injured early Thursday by a 19-year-old who was handling a gun in the backyard of a south Ukiah home, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy was flown to an undisclosed, out-of-county hospital for treatment, sheriff’s officials said.

The shooter, Jaime Rodriguez, 19, of Ukiah, was arrested on suspicion of firing a gun in a grossly negligent manner and willfully causing great bodily harm to a child.

The victim may be a relative of the suspected shooter, according to residents of the Canyon Drive home where the shooting took place. Neither the victim nor the shooter lives in the home, according to a woman and girl who reside there. The girl said her brother was in the yard with them at the time.

The shooting, which occurred just after midnight, was first reported to police as a drive-by shooting. But it was later revealed that it had occurred in the Canyon Drive home’s yard, sheriff’s officials said.

Rodriguez was in the yard with the victim and another juvenile when he produced a gun and began “manipulating” the weapon, officials said. It fired, striking the 12-year-old at close range, officials said. Rodriguez then carried the victim to the street and a neighbor called 911, reporting that the boy had been shot in the face and neck area.

The boy was transported to Ukiah Valley Medical Center, where he was stabilized before being flown to another hospital, officials said.

The neighborhood where the shooting took place is no stranger to violence. The modest, mostly 1950s-era subdivision is a half-block from Laws Avenue, a hot spot for gang activity in Ukiah.

A man who lives near the small, pinkish-colored home where the shooting took place called it “Lawless Avenue.”

He said he wasn’t particularly surprised by the shooting.

“Hell, they have that happen everywhere,” said the man, who gave only his first name, Joe.

Maria Vargas, who lives next door to the shooting location, said she was surprised.

It’s “very scary,” she said.

None of the neighbors who were willing to be interviewed had heard the gunshot.

In addition to the shooting-related charges, Rodriguez was arrested on three unrelated arrest warrants, officials said. According to booking records, he previously has been arrested on suspicion of felony burglary, misdemeanor hit-and-run and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

He was being held Thursday in the Mendocino County jail on $160,000 bond.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 234-2100.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.