BAKERSFIELD,CA-- Sheriff's deputies are looking for several people, they believe, shot and killed a Bakersfield man early Sunday morning.
Deputies say it started with a fight but ended with gunshots that killed 23- year-old Javier Meraz.
"I heard gunshots. It was rapid fire, pop, pop, pop," said neighbor Gene Vorhees.
The shooting happened around three near the corner of Griffith Street and Peckham Avenue.
"When they arrived, they found a Hispanic male in his 20's suffering gunshot wounds to his hands and torso," said Sgt. Gary Williams, Kern County Sheriff's Department.
Meraz was taken to Kern Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 5 a.m.
Deputies believe Meraz was attending a party when a fight broke out and he was shot in the backyard.
One neighbor thinks it's time to beef up his own security because of the shooting.
"I definitely encourage having a firearm," said Tyler Williams. "I think you would be stupid not to have a firearm when you have situations going on like this. It's your right as an American and something you should express."
Police say the shooters are still on the loose. Vorhees thinks the owners of the house where the shooting occurred need to be more conscious of who they rent to.
"It's riff-raff, nobody ends up staying long," Vorhees said. "The property deteriorates. Just a matter of time, get the wrong people together at the right time, people kill each other."
If you have any information regarding this case, call the Kern County Sheriff's Department at 661-861-3110.