Long Beach man arrested on suspicion of murder in shooting near Santa Ana College campus

A 49-year-old Long Beach man was behind bars Tuesday on suspicion of shooting to death a 29-year-old man near the Santa Ana College campus earlier this week, authorities said.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office planned to file a murder charge against Antonio Lamont Triplett, who allegedly shot and killed Osvaldo Garcia of Santa Ana, Santa Ana police said.

Two additional people remained in custody pending further investigation, but had not been charged as of Tuesday, police said.

Santa Ana officers were called to the 1500 block of N. Bristol Street just before 1 a.m. Monday on a report of a traffic collision near the street’s intersection with 17th Street. Two minutes later, an additional call came in of shots fired near Bristol Street and Washington Avenue, police said.

Investigators have obtained video recordings of the incident but events unfolded so quickly in the footage that officials weren’t immediately sure whether the shooting or the collision happened first, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Bertagna said.

Responding officers found Garcia’s car resting atop hedges lining a campus parking lot early Monday, police said. The victim was found nearby, lying in the parking lot suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

Orange County paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but Garcia was pronounced dead, police said.

Officers initially searched the campus for a suspect and later Monday detained three people in Carson and two more in Long Beach, police said.

Detectives obtained evidence in the case, but it wasn’t immediately known how they tied Triplett to the shooting, which led to the cancellation of morning and afternoon classes at the campus while police investigated.

The campus was reopened at 5 p.m. Monday.

Bertagna said Garcia was not a gang member and there was no indication the incident had anything to do with the campus other than it was where the collision and shooting occurred.