A man killed in a shooting in Marin City this week was an 18-year-old San Anselmo resident, the sheriff’s office said Friday.
Randy Ray Belanger died Thursday afternoon in the parking lot at 419 Drake Ave., an apartment building in the Golden Gate Village neighborhood. Sheriff’s deputies found his body on the ground next to a four-door sedan car with an open rear door.
The sheriff’s department released no details Friday about potential suspects or a motive. The coroner’s office plans an autopsy and toxicology testing next week.
The sheriff’s department received several reports of gunshots before witnesses saw the victim in the parking lot. Investigators found bullet casings on the ground around the victim, sheriff’s Sgt. Brenton Schneider said.
Michelle Ly, a resident at the complex, said she heard no gunfire but saw the victim on the ground. Ly, who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, said she hears gunshots on a routine basis.
“I’m so sick of it and my heart is broken, he was so young,” Ly said. “His parents, his siblings right now are probably crying right now, knowing he died.”
Ly said other neighbors are too intimidated to condemn violence in their community.
“These people, you don’t want to make them angry,” Ly said. “They kill each other. It’s like sporting — I cannot accept that.”
Felecia Gaston, a community activist in Marin City, said the shooting was “the second death in that particular 400 block area in the last two years.”
”I can understand how people don’t want to say anything,” she said.
Gaston said she has asked the Marin Housing Authority to purchase cameras for the community to increase safety and crime prevention.
”It’s everybody’s problem, it’s a safety issue for our community,” Gaston said. “We got cameras in Sausalito, we got cameras in Mill Valley. … Why can’t our community be equitable on that level too?”
The Marin Housing Authority could not be reached for comment.
Gaston said she will keep asking the Board of Supervisors for action to improve local safety.
”We need crime prevention and safety in our community, and cameras are the way to go,” she said. “My heart goes out to the family — any death is tragic.”
Belanger graduated in June from San Andreas High School in Larkspur, according to the Tamalpais Union High School District.
Source: www.mercurynews.com