UPDATE (Feb. 22): Police have released surveillance photos of a person of interest (see below). A $2,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in this investigation.
GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man was shot and killed while riding his bicycle on Apple Avenue Tuesday afternoon, marking South County’s second homicide in less than a week.
Greenfield police officers responded to shots being fired in the 600 block of Apple Avenue at about 1:20 p.m. on Feb. 20. Once on scene, they found a man on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound.
“Lifesaving measures were started by first responders; however, the victim succumbed to his wounds and was pronounced deceased,” police said in a news release.
Investigators from the Major Crimes Investigations Unit, a collaboration between Greenfield and King City police departments, were called to the scene and found that the victim — identified as Joseph Suniga, 32, of Greenfield — was riding his bicycle in the area when he was approached by the suspect.
Police said the suspect — described as a Hispanic boy in his mid-teens, with light brown hair and last seen wearing a white collared shirt and dark pants — produced a firearm and shot Suniga before fleeing the scene on a BMX-style bicycle. Suniga died at the scene.
No other information is available at this time.
This is the second homicide in South County in the past week. On Feb. 16, 22-year-old Juan Manuel Ceja of King City was found dead from a gunshot wound inside a parked vehicle at 450 Jayne St. in King City. The suspect in that incident is still at large.
Anyone with further information about either case is encouraged to contact Det. Leo Guzman at 831-888-7168 or Det. Joshue Partida at 831-718-7241 of the Major Crimes Investigations Unit, or call the WeTip line at 1-800-78-CRIME.
