El Monte sports bar shooting leaves 1 dead, 2 others injured

EL MONTE, Calif. - One person was killed, and two others were injured in a shooting at an El Monte sports bar early Saturday morning, according to deputies.

It happened just after midnight, at the Silver Dollar Saloon on Lower Azusa Road. El Monte Police officers were called out to the area after reports of shots fired. When they got there, officers were flagged down and directed into the bar. 

There, officers said they found the victim, John Garcia, on the ground with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

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A second gunshot victim, a Hispanic woman, was brought to the hospital and, according to officers, is in stable condition. Witnesses told officers that there was a third person who was shot, also a woman, but she left the scene. Investigators are now trying to find her.

"It's wild," said Ray Charles, who works at the barbershop next door to the bar. "What are you going to think? You come to work one day and you realize there are these threats right next door. It's hard because this has been a longtime bar, and we're a longtime barbershop, and you don't want to see things like this."

When asked if there have ever been incidents like this at the bar, Charles said "It's a bar. There's always gonna be some kind of incidents, but not like this. Not where somebody got murdered. This is pretty extreme for a local bar, for right here." 

The circumstances surrounding the shooting are under investigation. Officials did not provide any information on a potential suspect.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the LASD's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can also be left by calling 800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.