Gang activity suspected in slaying

Jen Lawson and Timothy Pratt

Tuesday, June 10, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

A 48-year-old man was beaten, shot and left for dead as he walked home with groceries Sunday morning near North Rancho and Vegas drives in an apparently unprovoked attack, Metro Police said.

The victim, Benito Zambrano-Lopez, died Monday morning at University Medical Center after he was beaten and shot five times in the back on Tumbleweed Avenue, near Riverside Drive, about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Police suspect gang involvement.

"Four black males in their teens approached the victim and started yelling and beating him to the ground," Sgt. David Stansbury of Metro's gang crime section said.

The suspects took Zambrano-Lopez's bag of groceries, Stansbury said. They ran from the scene, heading east on Riverside Drive.

Paramedics took Zambrano-Lopez to University Medical Center, where he immediately underwent surgery. He died Monday morning. Detectives weren't able to speak to Zambrano-Lopez before he died, Stansbury said.

Local residents said the surrounding neighborhood has a growing Hispanic population in a traditionally black area.

Leon, a black resident of Tumbleweed Avenue who asked that his last name not be used, said he has never had problems in the neighborhood.

"This neighborhood is mixed," he said. "That could have happened to anybody. They're hoodlums, that's all."

At the Super Mercado del Pueblo, on Rancho Drive, where Zambrano-Lopez had been shopping, Jim Murillo, the change person for the slots, reflected the fear of some residents. "You're Hispanic and you're walking down the street and a group of blacks sees you, they'll jump you," he said.

Zambrano-Lopez may have been caught in a running feud between gangs.

Robert Houston, an 18-year-old black man, said Hispanic and black gang members have been competing for territory. He said Hispanic gangs have been moving in on the black gang's turf and have been selling drugs.

"The Bloods have problems with them taking their money," he said. "I don't think this has to do with race, but with money."

Police are looking for four men in their teens or 20s, wearing a combination of black and red clothing. Police believe the man who shot Zambrano-Lopez wore a red "doo-rag" on his head. Police found two baseball caps at the scene. One was a New York Yankees hat.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro's homicide section at 229-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.