Crime and Public Safety |

Arrests made in gel bead gun attacks Sunday in San Mateo

SAN MATEO – Three men were arrested in connection with a series of drive-by gel bead gun shootings over the weekend in San Mateo, police said.

The first shooting happened around 7 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of North Humboldt Street and East Poplar Avenue, the San Mateo Police Department said in a news release.

A second shooting happened an hour later in the 3300 block of Los Prados Street and a third shooting happened around 9 p.m. in the 700 block of Monte Diablo Avenue.

The victims of the first two shootings told police a passenger in a white BMW shot them in the body and face while they were walking.

A man and his pregnant wife were targeted in the third shooting. Police said the suspects shot the husband several times, drove away and returned to shoot him again, narrowly missing his eyes.

Officers located the BMW near the scene of the third shooting and detained its occupants. Inside the car, officers found three Hydro Strike Pulsar gel bead guns and a bottle of Gel-Tek gel beads, police said.

The occupants of the BMW – identified as a 19-year-old man and two 20-year-old men, all of San Mateo – were arrested and booked into San Mateo County jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, police said.