Man Shot to Death in Front of 5-Year-Old Child at San Pablo Shell Gas Station

San Pablo police are working to solve two homicides that occurred in the city last week, including the killing of a man who was gunned down at a gas station in front of his 5-year-old child.

The most recent killing happened at about 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, when police received a report of shots fired at a Shell gas station at 2876 El Portal Drive, near Interstate Highway 80, police Cmdr. Jeff Palmieri said.

Officers arrived to find 54-year-old Rodrigo Martinez suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to John Muir Medical Center, where he died early the next day.

Palmieri said Martinez's 5-year-old child was in the car with him at the gas station when the shooting happened but was uninjured.

The circumstances of the slaying remain under investigation, and investigators are reviewing surveillance video footage from the Shell station. Palmieri said Martinez was parked at the gas station but was not getting gas when he was shot.

The child is now in the care of other family members, he said.

Two days earlier, at about 4:35 p.m. Thursday, a teenager was gunned down in the 2100 block of Dover Avenue.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation and reports of a shooting and found 19-year-old Franklin Lopez-Guardado wounded, police said. He was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center, where he died.

Witnesses reported seeing two males running away from the scene of the shooting, Palmieri said.

He said there is no immediate indication that the killings are related, but that police are investigating all possibilities.

Anyone with information about either shooting is asked to call San Pablo police investigations at (510) 215-3150 or Crime Stoppers at (510) 799-8255.

"Based on what we do have, I do believe that both of these homicides are going to be solvable," Palmieri said.

The killings are the only two homicides San Pablo has recorded this year. Last year, for the first time in decades, the city didn't have any homicides, police said.

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