May 7, 2008

E. Palo Alto man shot, killed in Menlo Park

Police said shooter's motive and exact location of crime is unknown

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

An East Palo Alto man was shot to death early Tuesday morning while riding in a car traveling along Bayfront Expressway in Menlo Park, police reported Tuesday.

Jose Antonio Contreras, 19, suffered a gunshot wound to his head and was taken by the vehicle's driver to Stanford University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Medical personnel notified police at 1:23 a.m.

Detectives have not yet determined a motive and have no suspect information. And because they weren't dispatched to a crime scene, they're still determining the exact location of the shooting. But preliminary interviews have led them to believe Contreras was shot along the expressway, between University Avenue and Willow Road.

"Our detectives have been interviewing friends and family members all day," Menlo Park police spokeswoman Nicole Acker said Tuesday. "We don't have much to go on."

So far, detectives suspect that Contreras was in the passenger side of a moving vehicle when he was shot, Acker said. The spokeswoman did not have a description of any vehicles involved in the shooting and said that detectives searched unsuccessfully for suspects in the surrounding area.

The initial report of shots fired was made to East Palo Alto police from a location on Poplar Avenue. Detective Jeff Liu said he was on duty and suspects that the caller may have known that Contreras was being driven to the hospital by friends. After Menlo Park police determined that the shooting happened in their jurisdiction, Liu said he turned over the case to them.

Conteras' slaying is Menlo Park's first since 2004, a year in which three people were murdered, Acker said.

Anyone with additional information, or who may have witnessed the shooting, is asked to call the Menlo Park Police Department at 650-330-6300, or the anonymous tip line at 650-330-6395.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.