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Gun violence erupts

The gun violence that bloodied the Labor Day weekend in Salinas was extended Tuesday night, leaving one man critically wounded in one incident and two other men seriously wounded in a second.
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The first shooting occured in front Hartnell College at 8:30 p.m. while hundreds of students were getting out of classes. A 55-year-old man was struck in the upper torso in a drive-by shooting on the 600 block of West Alisal Street.

The man was standing outside a house when a vehicle opened fire. He was struck several times and airlifted to a Bay Area hospital, Salinas police said.

At the time of the shooting more than 1,000 students were exiting their evening classes, according to a college security guard who was on duty at the time.

Police are investigating whether the drive-by shooting is gang-related or if it's connected to any other of the weekend's shootings.

Since Sunday, seven people have been injured and one man killed in at least six separate shootings in Salinas. The fatality involved a police officer and a man armed with a loaded AK-47-style rifle in north Salinas.

In another shooting, two men received serious injuries in separate drive-by attacks on Monday.

Police haven't made any arrest but Cmdr. Ruiz said he hopes witnesses will come forward with information that could lead to an arrest.

Many Hartnell students stopped at the crime scene. Some were detained for more than 30 minutes as police investigated the scene.

As they walked to their cars many said they didn't feel safe.

"I grew up in Salinas," said Tom Gorman, who has lived in Salinas for more than 50 years and was in Hartnell for a pottery class.

"I can't believe what it has become."

Crime has spread all over Salinas, Gorman said and anyone can become a victim of violence.

"There were no issues of safety," he said of Salinas when he was growing up, "and now you can't go anywhere."

In the second shooting Tuesday night two Salinas men in their twenties were both wounded in the upper torso, police said.

The shooting occurred at about 10 p.m. in an apartment parking lot on the 2100 block of Perez Street in north Salinas.

Ruiz said this shooting was being investigated in connection with the shooting near Hartnell.