Westminster : Man Hit by Gunfire at Party; Suspect Held

A Saturday evening party turned ugly when one man was shot in the hip and another was arrested for attempted murder.

“It was a gathering that went sour,” Westminster police Lt. Andrew Hall said.

The evening began quietly enough, Hall said, when victim Pablo Ramirez Diaz, 32, of Westminster met several friends in a parking lot at 8421 15th St. to socialize and watch a portable TV.

But two of the party-goers began to quarrel, Hall said, and one grabbed a .45-caliber handgun.

Diaz, who was not involved in the argument, tried to get out of the way but was hit in the hip by a single round from the gun.

Diaz was taken by a friend to Humana Hospital-Westminster, where he was reported in stable condition Sunday.

Meanwhile, the man suspected of shooting Diaz fled in his car but was arrested later when he returned to the area where the party was held.

“It makes it real easy when they drive back. . . . It wasn’t brilliant police work,” Hall said.

Arrested on suspicion of attempted murder was Eleazar Valle Rangel, 23, of Westminster.