Man Shot, Killed at San Bernardino Apartment

SAN BERNARDINO – Police say a man shot multiple times in the upper body on Monday night died from his gunshot wounds.

Lavender was shot as the vehicle pulled into apartments on North Loma Ave.

Semaj Jamesz Lavender, 18, was riding as a passenger in a vehicle just before 5 p.m., pulling into a gated apartment complex on the 2900 block of North Loma Avenue, when gunshots were heard. The driver of the vehicle fled, not realizing Lavender had been shot until moments later.

Police did not identify the driver who drove the injured man to St. Bernardine’s Medical Center, which was located a few miles of the shooting scene at 2101 North Waterman Ave. Lavender died a short time after arriving at the hospital.

Lt. Paul Williams said in a release that police, who don’t have any suspects, are uncertain if the shooting was gang or drug related. There has yet to be a motive for the shooting as well, he said. The neighborhood, according to police, has gang-related ties. Williams said the San Bernardino Movement Against Street Hoodlums (SMASH) was on the scene to investigate the shooting.

The drive to St. Bernadine Hospital is about 2.4 miles, Lavender died after arrival.

Witnesses at the apartment complex have been questioned, along with the driver of the car that had been shot at. “The driver was not injured,” said Williams, adding he did not yet know how long it took from the shooting until Lavender died.

Williams said it was the eighth homicide in San Bernardino in 2013. Last year, San Bernardino had 46 murders within its city limits.

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Press-Enterprise: Man dies from shooting at apartment complex