SAN JOSE — A gunman wounded a teenager then finished him off in the street execution-style in East San Jose on Saturday, said a man who nearly witnessed the attack.

The witness was on Lyndale Avenue just off Story Road when he heard people arguing, then a single gunshot,” said the man, who remains anonymous. “Then I heard somebody say, ‘Just kill him.’ “

The next three shots came close together, the man said, “like execution-style.” The shooting occurred in daylight, just before 7 p.m.

After the final shots, the witness saw a young Hispanic man in a white T-shirt sprint up the street and jump into the back of a green Honda Civic that had the rear doors open and two other young men inside. The car took off north on Lyndale, he said, driving “very, very fast.”

Immediately after the shooting, neighbors came out and began to frantically try to save the dying man. A number of them lifted the victim and saw two bullet wounds in his back. The young man was described as Hispanic and clean cut. “He looked like your everyday kind of regular kid,” said another neighbor.

The killing marks the city’s 12th homicide of the year, according to San Jose police. Last year at this time, San Jose had eight recorded homicides.

The witness said the victim had been accompanied by another young man and two girls. As the victim lay in the street, he said, the male companion, weeping, tried to help him, and the girls stood by crying.

The girls said the four had been walking from a nearby grocery store at the time of the incident, and that they believed they had been followed by the assailants, a neighbor said, adding that the victim appeared to have been carrying or riding a skateboard.

The gunfire, less than 50 yards from Story Road west of South White Road, was reported at 6:50 p.m.

The victim, described as a 19-year-old man, was rushed to the hospital, where he died late Saturday night.

Neighbors called the neighborhood peaceful and said such an incident was highly unusual.

Police initially reported the crime as a drive-by shooting. Later, the information was updated to refer to “several suspects” who were on foot when the victim was shot.

Additional details about the shooting, including information about possible suspects, were not immediately available. Anyone with information about the case can contact San Jose homicide detectives at 408-277-5283 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or with svcrimestoppers.org.

Contact Ethan Baron at 408-920-5011 or ebaron@mercurynews.com, or follow him at Twitter.com/ethanbaron.