Melee in Alley Ends in Fatal Shooting

A man was shot to death during an argument Saturday with gang members, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said.

Javier Rodriguez Chavez, 48, of San Juan Capistrano was talking to a man in an alley in the 26000 block of Paseo Carmel about midnight when a fight with more than 20 people broke out, said Lt. Erin Giudice.

Chavez was killed by a gunshot to the head, and the man he was talking to, Marco Dominguez-Laredo, 29, of San Juan Capistrano, suffered a cut above his eye.

Neither Rodriguez nor Dominguez-Laredo is a gang member, the Sheriff’s Department said. A dark car seen leaving the scene was found and examined for evidence, Giudice said.