A man was found shot to death behind a vacant Food 4 Less store in Santa Ana

The former Food 4 Less supermarket located at 1900 N. Grand Ave. has been vacant for many years and now 23-year old Joseph Frank Garcia, a resident of Orange, has been found shot to death behind that store, according to the SAPD.

The body was found in an alley late on Wednesday night, at around 10:30 p.m., by a security guard. The victim is a man who appeared to be in his 20s, according to the SAPD. 

Upon arrival, SAPD police officers located an adult male face down in the alley. The male victim, later identified as Garcia, had been shot and was unresponsive. Orange County Fire Authority medics responded to the scene and pronounced the victim deceased at 10:37 PM.

The shocking part of this is that this murder occurred in north Santa Ana – in Ward 3 which is now represented by Councilman Jose Solorio, who has in his return to the City Council focused on making our city a Sanctuary City and on essentially banning food trucks from our neighborhoods.

The police are not sure yet if this murder was gang-related. The police do not yet have a suspect and the motive for this crime is unknown. SAPD Homicide Detectives are investigating. Anyone with information is requested to contact the SAPD Homicide Unit at (714) 245-8390 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCC.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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