Two arrests have been made in connection with a shooting outside a Temecula bar Sunday night that left a 28-year-old father dead and two other people fighting for their lives, officials say.
The shooting happened after a possible argument broke out just before 11 p.m. in the 28600 block of Old Town Front Street outside a bar called The Bank, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said. Investigators believe one of the suspects shot all three victims while standing in the outside patio of the bar, before leaving the area on foot with another suspect.
Deputies with the Southwest Sheriff’s Station responded to the scene and found the three victims suffering from gunshot wounds, two of whom, a man and a woman, were taken to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown. The third victim died at the scene. Family members identified him to Eyewitness News as 28-year-old Desmond Dyas Jr., a local recording artist who had a 4-year-old daughter.
His family members say they believe Desmond was trying to break up a fight. They believe the shooter not only shot him and the two others but came back and shot him again when he was on the ground.
Desmond Dyas Jr., a 28-year-old father of a 4-year-old girl, was killed in a shooting in Temecula on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022.
“You don’t just kill somebody’s daddy, somebody’s son, somebody’s grandson for no reason,” said Desmond’s mother, Lashon Thomas. “You just don’t. You don’t have to shoot somebody and then walk back and shoot him again. For what? What did he do to you?”
Authorities arrested 24-year-old Kevin Hatchett Jr., of Wildomar, and 21-year-old Nickolas Trichanh, of Corona, in connection with deadly shooting. Hatchett was booked at the Cois Byrd Detention Center for murder and two counts of attempted murder. Trichanh was booked for accessory to murder, according to officials.
While the motive remains under investigation, authorities say the shooting does not appear to be random and “the public should not be fearful.”
Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call the Southwest Sheriff’s Station at 951-696-3000 or the Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department | Contributed
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