Rosarito shooting victim was from San Diego

Family members said Wednesday that a man who died Sunday when unknown assailants sprayed gunfire on a beach-side gathering south of Rosarito Beach was Hector Gerardo Tapia, a 37-year-old construction worker from south San Diego.

Relatives said Tapia liked to ride off-road vehicles at Los Arenales, an area of tall sand dunes in the community of Primo Tapia.

Hector Tapia was born and raised in Chula Vista, and graduated from Chula Vista High School. He was divorced with an 8-year-old son.

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana confirmed that Tapia was a U.S. citizen, and a spokeswoman said consular staff were providing assistance to family members.

Rosarito Beach police initially reported four people died in the incident, which took place just before 9 p.m. The Baja California attorney general’s office clarified that three were killed, including an 11-year-old boy, Adrian Gomez Carballo. Seven people were injured, and have been treated and released, authorities said.

It was unclear whether the third fatality, Tomas Llamas Garcia, was a U.S. citizen. A friend said he was born in Tijuana but was working in National City in the car business.

A source at the Baja California Attorney General’s Office said that neither Tapia nor Llamas had criminal records. Investigators were looking into whether the shooting was triggered by a dispute previous to the gathering with one of the attendees, the source said.

Investigators initially said that there was only one gunman, but they now believe there were at least two, the source said, as they found casings from an AK-47 assault rifle and 9 mm handgun at the scene.