Gunshot victim dropped off at Pechanga

TEMECULA - A predawn shooting in Temecula today left a man with a gunshot wound that prompted his friend to drop him off at the Pechanga Casino to seek medical help, a sheriff's sergeant said.

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched at 4:20 a.m. to the casino on Pechanga Drive in reference to the 24-year-old victim who saw the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez boxing match Saturday night with a friend at the casino.

Deputies learned that the men left the casino at about 1 a.m., headed to a bar and later arrived at a condominium complex on Sunflower Way at Pepper Ridge. They were confronted by a man driving a silver Ford F-150 four-door pickup truck at the complex's parking lot, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Kevin McDonald said.

The driver apparently aimed at the victim and fired off two to three rounds. One of the shots struck the victim and he fled with his friend in their car to the casino. The suspect also fled and evaded capture, McDonald said.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of his gunshot injury. His name was being withheld until his family was located and notified, McDonald said.

It was uncertain why the victim wasn't first driven to the hospital. Deputies asked anyone with information about the shooting to call the sheriff's Temecula station at (951) 696-3000.