Victims In Moss Landing Beach Party Shooting Identified as Two Boys, Age 13 and 15

Three of the shootings that happened around the Bay Area over Halloween weekend involved teenagers, and this includes the tragic shooting early Monday on a beach in Monterey County.

We're now learning that the victims in that shooting were two teenage boys from Salinas, ages 13 and 15.

On social media Tuesday, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office identified the boys as 13-year-old Nathaniel Flores and 15-year-old Marco Antonio Perez. Sheriff's deputies say they were called to the scene just after midnight on Monday morning, and they found both victims with gunshot wounds to the chest.

Both boys were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other individuals were said to have sustained minor injuries, and at least one was hospitalized.

Images from Moss Landing State Beach, where the shooting took place, showed litter and evidence of an apparent party there, including red Solo cups.

As the Chronicle notes, the Salinas Union High School District issued a statement saying that its students were among the victims.

"It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we share that members of our district student community were among those who lost their lives," said District Superintendent Zandra Jo Galvan in a letter to parents obtained by the Chronicle.

The Steinbeck Tigers Youth Football & Cheer, in a GoFundMe post, identified Flores, known as Nate, as "a member of our Midgets football team, a son, a teammate, and a friend."

"At Steinbeck, our players are so much more than names on a roster or numbers on a jersey," the organization said. "They are children we have the privilege of watching grow, encouraging through challenges, celebrating through victories, and supporting both on and off the field. Nate was part of that family, and his loss is deeply felt by all of us."

The fundraiser has so far raised $6,600 out of a $26,000 goal to assist Flores's family with funeral expenses and financial support.

No arrests have yet been made in the shooting, and investigators have not said whether the two victims knew each other.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Nick Kennedy at 831-755-3773 or Detective Richard Geng at 831-759-7279. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

This shooting followed two other incidents of gun violence involving teenagers in other parts of the Bay. In Vacaville on Saturday night a 15-year-old boy was shot and injured outside a Halloween gathering at a home. The previous night, in nearby Fairfield, a 17-year-old boy allegedly opened fire on a crowd at a Spirit Halloween store, fatally injuring a 31-year-old pregnant woman, and wounding six others.