He shot a Coalinga boy by mistake last week and turned himself in, police say

The Coalinga Police Department arrested an 18-year-old man for last week’s shooting of a 10-year-old boy.

Peter Garza turned himself in at the Fresno County Jail on Wednesday night. He returned to Coalinga for questioning by Coalinga police detectives on Thursday before being booked into Fresno County Jail.

On July 19, about 10:30 p.m., police went to the 700 block of East Valley Street to a report of five to eight shots fired at a home, said Chief Michael Salvador.

Inside the home, officers found a 10-year-old boy with a single gunshot wound to his abdomen. The child, an unintended victim, was airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno and underwent emergency surgery, said Salvador.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol sealed off a two-block area around the crime scene for the investigation. Police say that the shots were fired nearby and several people were seen running away after the shooting.

Coalinga police investigators believe the shooting may be gang-related.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 3:23 PM with the headline "He shot a Coalinga boy by mistake last week and turned himself in, police say."