2 men suspected in car-to-car shooting at Riverside County mall charged

Charges were made against two young men suspected in a car-to-car shooting in the parking lot of The Shops in Palm Desert.

Adelanto residents Allen Curcio Adams Jr., 19, and Alexander Brice Alvarado, 20, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder, according to Sgt. Travis Mountz of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Mountz said that deputies from the Palm Desert station responded around 2 p.m. on Feb. 2 to reports of shots fired at the mall in the 72-800 block of Highway 111. Shortly after, the sheriff’s station alerted the public that a shooting occurred in the south parking lot of the mall.

“Based on the investigation, it is believed the incident was a car-to-car, gang-related shooting, with over 40 rounds fired,” Mountz said in a statement. “Thankfully, no one was injured during the incident.”

The same day, two “people of interest” from Desert Hot Springs were detained and several search warrants were served for the ongoing investigation, according to Mountz.

“The two detained the night of the incident were later determined to be possible victims,” Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Deirdre Vickers told City News Service. “As a result, they were released, and no charges were filed against them.”

The Palm Desert Investigations Bureau subsequently identified Adams and Alvarado as suspects in the shooting and on Wednesday, investigators and the Riverside County Gang Impact Team served a search warrant in the 11100 block of Hyattsville Street in Adelanto, Mountz said.

Following the search, Adams and Alvarado were arrested and later booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where they remain held on $250,000 bail.

Anyone with additional information regarding the shooting was encouraged to contact investigator William Hickok at 760-836-1600.

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