A Norteño gang member is accused of wounding a rival from the Sureño gang in the shoulder in a drive-by shooting in March in Vancouver’s Esther Short neighborhood.
Edgar R. Munguia, 18, of Vancouver appeared Friday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault and drive-by shooting.
Judge David Gregerson held Munguia in lieu of $150,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Neil Cane to defend him. Munguia is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge Wednesday.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded about 11 p.m. March 23 to a report of a man with a gunshot wound at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
The victim, a Sureño gang member, said he was shot by a Norteño gang rival who was driving by his residence in the 1200 block of West Franklin Street earlier in the evening, according to court records.
The suspect vehicle then sped away, and the victim sought medical treatment.
According to court records, the victim said the shooting was the latest in a rash of violence between the two gangs, most of which had not been reported to law enforcement.
Last year, Munguia’s vehicle was shot and spray-painted with Sureño graffiti, court records show. Law enforcement officials believe that Munguia may have blamed the victim in the March 23 shooting.
Munguia allegedly called the victim a “Scrap” when he shot him, which is a derogatory term for a Sureño gang member.
Munguia was arrested Thursday on a bench warrant. He was recently released from custody in Oregon, according to court records.
