Three have been arrested in four fatal shootings at a party in Monterey County

Three people have been arrested in connection with a mass shooting and double murder in Monterey County that left six people dead and seven others injured, authorities announced Friday.

Jonathan Leal Cervantes, 18, Pedro Manuel Nava, 22, and a minor, all of Greenfield, were charged with six counts of suspicion of murder, seven counts of suspicion of attempted murder, one count of suspicion of armed robbery, as well as gang violence and weapons possession Improvements, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.

“This is a significant step toward accountability and provides some answers to impacted families in our community as a whole,” Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said at Friday’s news conference.

Cervantes and Nava are scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon; Authorities said the minor was scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning.

On March 3, around 6 p.m., police responded to a report of shots fired at a home in the 200 block of North 2nd Street in King City where a birthday party was taking place. According to Police Chief James Hunt, 11 people were found with gunshot wounds and four people – one woman and three men – later died from their injuries.

Authorities identified those killed as King City residents Alicia Ramirez Aparicio, Francisco Aldape Perez and Olivo Perez Pina, all 32, and 42-year-old Mario Guzman Mendoza.

The gunmen, wearing masks and dark clothing, drove up to the house in a stolen silver Kia and opened fire, authorities said. They then fled the scene and abandoned the stolen car in a vineyard outside Greenfield, where it was found three days later.

The seven injured adults were hospitalized, two in critical condition and the others with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officials have linked the mass shooting in King City to another violent incident that occurred about a month earlier, in which two cousins ​​were fatally shot just outside Soledad. The victims — whom authorities identified as Soledad residents Jack Canchola, 20, and Andres Garcia, 26 — had called 9-1-1 around 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 4 and said they were being called by “men with weapons” who drove the police Later it was said that it was a stolen Kia sedan.

At a news conference in February, investigators said the shooting appeared to be a case of mistaken identity because the victims had no criminal background or obvious gang ties. Additionally, they described Canchola as a “high-functioning” person with autism.

The couple was confronted by the suspects at a location near the Salinas River, where they had gone to give Canchola a break from a crowded family gathering, investigators said. The cousins ​​drove away to avoid a fight, but the suspects “chased them and killed them,” alleged Michael Darlington, chief of investigations for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities allege the suspects, who they described as gang members, were involved in an armed robbery in Salinas.