Five people arrested in connection with Indio shooting in January

Indio police arrested five people, including three minors, on attempted murder charges Monday in connection with a shooting that occurred in mid-January.

Members of the police department’s street and major crimes units served search warrants early Monday at several homes in Coachella, Indio and La Quinta, finding eight firearms and more than 5,000 fentanyl pills during the operation.

Detectives connected some of the people involved in the searches to a Jan. 18 shooting in the 43-900 block of Tracy Circle in which policy say more than 90 rounds of ammunition were fired, including some from high-powered rifles.

The search warrants, which were served without any injuries, resulted in five suspects being taken into custody on attempted murder charges. The suspects included Samuel Galvan, 19, and Ethan Sinohuiz, 18, as well as three adolescents whose names were not released.

Two other people were arrested for weapons violations during the searches, and police say three suspects, 23-year-old Noe Montes, 19-year-old Jonathan Garcia and 18-year-old Jose Baltierra, are outstanding.  

The search warrants were served by Indio police with help from several other agencies, including investigative units from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Anyone with more information regarding this case may contact the Indio Police Department's Detective Unit at (760) 391-4051 or Valley Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.