The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has made public a 911 call made in the midst of chaos in the deadly shooting of two men at the Toys 'R' Us in Palm Desert on Black Friday. In the call, a woman contacting police frantically reports a fight in the middle of the store. As the call progresses, shots apparently are heard in the background. The woman on the phone with a dispatcher says More..two men are 'down' and 'bleeding.'
Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs, and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City, shot each other to death around 11:30 a.m. Friday inside the store near Fred Waring Drive and Highway 111. The store was jammed with parents and children shopping for holiday gifts on what is traditionally known as "Black Friday," said Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Two guns were recovered near the men's bodies, authorities said.
Witnesses said the men were with two women who got into a fight that escalated into the fatal shootings, which sent terrified shoppers and their children scrambling for safety.
Joan Barrick of Desert Hot Springs told City News Service she was about six feet away from the shooting when it occurred.
She said two young Latinas got into a fight, and that Meza showed he had a gun.
Barrick's husband, Scott Barrick, said the older man -- Moreno -- then pulled his own weapon and they began running through the store shooting at each other.
The store reopened Saturday with extra security on hand.
There was no official word of any relationship between the victims or exactly what caused the shooting to erupt, but authorities said earlier there may have already been bad blood between the two couples.
No one has been arrested and no suspects are being sought, but the investigation is "still continuing," said sheriff's Detective Matt Diaz.
Michael Jeandron of the District Attorney's Office said the probe was continuing, and sheriff's investigators had not yet turned the case over to prosecutors for consideration of possible charges