Three Homicides Under Investigation In Valley

Police detectives in Yakima and Union Gap are busy Today investigating three separate homicides. The latest was reported Sunday afternoon at the intersection of 17th Avenue and Chestnut. Police spokesman Mike Bastinelli says 19-year-old Antonio Esteban Olguin was walking with a group in the 200 block of south 17th avenue when shots were fired. Olguin died at a Yakima hospital. Bastinelli says two vehicles left the area after the shooting but they don't know if they contained a shooter. Police are searching for a suspect. Bastinelli says "it's highly unusual to have three homicides in this area in one weekend." Bastinelli says they're looking at whether any of the shootings are connected but he says "it's just to early to say at this point."
The violence started Friday night when 24-year-old Luis Ramirez-Gonzalez was shot outside the Airline Market at 10th Avenue and Washington in Union Gap. Police arrested a suspect shortly after the murder reported at about 6:40 p.m. Friday night. On Saturday 26-year-old Andres Garcia Mesa of Yakima was killed after being shot  died about 2:15 p.m. outside the Econo Lodge in the 500 block of N. First Street. Authorities say Mesa was standing in the parking lot when a car drove up, one of the passengers got out and fired the fatal shots. Police spotted the suspect vehicle a short time later on Interstate 82 where a chase started that eventually ended in the Lower Valley where the suspect vehicle crashed and twenty-five-year-old Gonzalo Amaya was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder.
Both Union Gap and Yakima Police continue to investigate Today.