‘I can’t hold on, I’ve been shot’

While police search for Hermes Rodriguez’s killer, loved ones mourn and wonder why.A deadly shooting has shaken a small west side Costa Mesa neighborhood, leaving many residents wondering what provoked the Saturday night attack.

Police are looking for the gunman who killed 21-year-old Hermes Rodriguez. Authorities have released few details in the case, only saying the shooting came after a fight near Hamilton Street and Wallace Avenue.

On Sunday, dozens of Rodriguez’s friends and family members gathered on Wallace Avenue to grieve and try to make sense of the slaying.

“Usually I’d say this is a pretty safe place,” said Joshua Wright as he retraced his cousin’s last steps. “We think he was shot right here, then ran around the corner and collapsed in front of his friend’s mom’s house.”

Raquel Chavez said she heard the gunshot a few minutes before 8 p.m. and ran outside to see what was going on.

“At first I thought it was my son,” because he had left with Rodriguez just minutes earlier to go to the store, Chavez said. But when she came out, she found Rodriguez collapsed in her driveway, bleeding.

“I told him ‘Hold on, hold on, the ambulance is going to be here soon,’” she said. “He told me, ‘I can’t hold on, I’ve been shot in the heart.”

Paramedics treated Rodriguez at the scene and then rushed him to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where he was later pronounced dead.

Family members say they had no idea what provoked the attack. Cousin Brenda Ramirez said Rodriguez was a fun-loving guy who worked in construction and dreamed of helping his mother start a business in his native Michoacan, Mexico. He left Mexico four years ago and shared a small apartment here with his mother and 12-year-old brother.

“He was such a good kid. He would never talk back to his mother and was always happy,” Ramirez said. “All of our family is just shocked right now that this happened.”

Investigators are also unclear what provoked the attack.

“Nothing indicates it was gang-related,” Costa Mesa Sgt. Mark Manley said.

Relatives said they believed Rodriguez’s 12-year-old brother may have witnessed the shooting, but he has told them little about it. Manley was unable to confirm that. Manley described the suspect as a heavyset Latino man in his mid 30s with short hair.

“We would like to convey to the community that we’re going to do everything we can to make an arrest as soon as possible,” Manley said.

Many residents in the small neighborhood were shaken by the attack, just a few hundred yards away from Rea Elementary School. Friends set up a small shrine where Rodriguez had died, while others canvassed the neighborhood in search of donations to help pay for Rodriguez’s funeral.

Neighbor Steve Atkin said the commotion from the shooting was a surprise.

“It’s real quiet here,” he said. “This is not a high-crime area.”WENDI KAMINSKI / DAILY PILOTWENDI KAMINSKI / DAILY PILOTPablo Joaquin, 11, Costa Mesa, holds a picture where his friend, Hermes Rodriguez, died. Rodriguez was shot and killed last night near his Costa Mesa home. Investigators are unclear what provoked the deadly attack. . Hermes Rodriguez, 21, was shot and killed last night near his Costa Mesa home. Police are looking for the gunman. 20060213iulo97ncWENDI KAMINSKI / DAILY PILOT(LA)Pablo Joaquin, 11, Costa Mesa, holds a picture where his friend, Hermes Rodriguez, died. Rodriguez was shot and killed last night near his Costa Mesa home. Investigators are unclear what provoked the deadly attack. . 20060213iulo9oncWENDI KAMINSKI / DAILY PILOT(LA)Pablo Joaquin, 11, Costa Mesa, holds a picture where his friend, Hermes Rodriguez, died. Rodriguez was shot and killed last night near his Costa Mesa home. Investigators are unclear what provoked the deadly attack. .