2 dead, 1 hurt in shooting inside Southern California house

RIVERSIDE — Police were investigating a shooting early Wednesday at a Southern California house that left two men dead and a third wounded, authorities said.

Officers responding to reports of gunfire around 2:15 a.m. found two men with gunshot wounds at the property in southwest Riverside, police said.

One man died at the scene and the other was hospitalized in stable condition, according to Officer Ryan Railsback.

A short time later, someone flagged down a police patrol vehicle near downtown Riverside reporting that a male passenger in a car had stopped breathing, Railsback said. The man, who was suffering from gunshot wounds, later died.

Investigators determined the victim in the car had been shot at the house and was being taken to a hospital, Railsback said.

Two people in the car and three or four people at the home were detained for questioning. No weapons were immediately recovered and investigators. Police were obtaining a search warrant for the house and the car, Railsback said.

“It's still early in the investigation,” he said. “We're trying to determine if any of those who were shot also did any of the shooting.”

Railsback said detectives were investigating rumors of possible illegal gambling at the house in a neighborhood with residences and businesses, less than a mile from La Sierra University.