AMERICAN CANYON, Calif. (AP) - Police arrested a man in the killing of a grocery store employee who was fatally shot in the parking lot of the supermarket where he worked, authorities said Monday.
Nathan Garza, 18, was shot Sunday at noon in the bustling parking lot of a Safeway store in American Canyon, Henry Wofford, a spokeswoman for the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement.
Officers arrested Chris Young, 23, of Martinez, shortly after the shooting after he was seen jumping fences and running through backyards, Wofford said.
It was not immediately known if Young has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Wofford said initially officers didn’t know Young was linked to the fatal shooting of Garza, of Fairfield, but that they located a Cadillac used in the shooting and surveillance video showed “a male subject matching the description of Young parking and exiting the vehicle within minutes of the shooting.”
Officers searched the car and found a .45-caliber handgun, the same caliber handgun used in Garza’s killing, Wofford said.
Garza is a recent graduate of Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, KNTV reported.
He was a star baseball player who planned to attend Diablo Valley College and had hopes of playing baseball there too, a friend said.
“He loved his baseball. He always preached about his baseball, how he wanted to play for the A’s,” said friend Krishal Sharma. “He was going to go to DVC, and he wanted to get drafted from there.”
Detectives have not released a motive in the killing.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.