A 25-year-old man who was chased a man down a sidewalk after a fistfight, then shot and killed Saturday morning has been identified, the Medical Examiner's office said. The gunman remains at large, police said Sunday.
Christoper Hawthorne, 25, of Santee was shot on Morena Boulevard near O'Connell's bar in the Bay Park area just after midnight, San Diego police Sgt. Rich Nemetz said.
Officers received a report of 12 people fighting in front of the bar. When they arrived, they found the victim lying down on the corner of Savannah Street and Morena Boulevard (one block from the bar). The victim died at the scene.
The victim and another man had exchanged words in the parking lot of the bar, leading to a fistfight between them, police said.
"The shooter, not one of the original combatants, pulled out a handgun, chased the victim down the sidewalk, and shot him where he was found," Lieutenant Kevin Rooney said.
Richard Tull lives across the street from Oconnell's Bar, just a few blocks up from the crime scene. He said he often hears people coming and going -- many times drunk. But Friday night was different.
"You know what, I did hear gunshots, but it didn't even sound like -- it sounded like a cap gun, so it was a small caliber whatever it was," Tull said.
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Sgt. Charles Lara says the victim was shot in the head. But in this normally quiet area, he doesn't want people to think this is something of a new trend.
"I think it's just the people here that were involved happened to be here when the fight broke out," Sgt. Lara said.
The police helicopter that flew over the scene has a telephoto lens that can see if evidence was tossed onto the ground or rooftops. A nearby building also has surveillance cameras. The owner said he would turn the tapes over to police. There are also cameras at the bar.
People who live and work in the area hope all that surveillance video will help lead to an arrest.
"This is not what you want to have in front of your business," said business owner Vincent Quintana.
The suspect is described as a Latino male, 20’s, 5’7”, 160, short brown hair, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and gray sweatpants, was last seen running westbound on Savannah Street.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
