Survivor Describes Gunmen : Robbery Is Likely Motive in College Grove Slayings

Robbery is believed to be the motive in the slayings of four people at a College Grove home, police said Wednesday after interviewing the survivor of San Diego’s worst multiple homicide of 1986.

Police also released descriptions of two Spanish-speaking males being sought in the case.

One is described as Latino, about 23 years old, 5-foot-8 and about 175 pounds. He has a mustache, a light beard and short black hair.

The second is described as Caucasian, 22 to 24 years old, 5-foot-5 and about 110 pounds. He has a slight mustache and straight, shoulder-length hair.

Four people were gunned down and a fifth was wounded when the men fired shots early Sunday into a home in the 3400 block of Hasty Street.

The survivor is described only as a Latino in his 20s who suffered gunshot wounds to the stomach. The unidentified man is improving but was still listed in serious condition at an undisclosed hospital, said homicide Sgt. Hank Olais, who interviewed the survivor.

“The motive appears to be robbery,” he said.

Though detectives do not know why the attackers chose the Hasty Street home to rob, Olais said police still are not ruling out the possibility that the attackers may have been looking for illegal drugs. He declined to say whether any narcotics were found in the home.

“We haven’t ruled that out,” Olais said about possible drug dealing. “Robbery is a generic term. Robbery is seeking something monetary, or it could mean seeking things of value.” Olais also said police believe the murders appear to be an isolated crime and not part of a pattern of shooting by the same two men.

“I don’t have any information that these people were arbitrarily selecting their victims, and we don’t have a series of shootings like this one,” Olais said.

He said gunmen walked into the home about 1 a.m. and demanded money. The victims did not put up a fight before they were shot and the gunmen fled, leaving the home ransacked.

Detectives have the description of the weapons used in the attacks, but Olais declined to release that information.

The four people killed were from the interior of Mexico. A coroner’s report said they died of gunshots to the head and torso.

Two of the victims have been tentatively identified as Miguel Martinez Vasquez, 20, of Mexico City, and Enrique Mejia Beltran, 25.

Detectives have given the identities of the five victims to the Mexican Consulate to determine whether any of the victims were in the country illegally.

Olais said anyone with information regarding the shooting should call 531-2835.