Police are investigating two shootings near the same area but at different times Saturday night.

In the first, a man was hospitalized with a leg wound after he was shot near Downtown Long Beach at the border between the Washington and Willmore neighborhoods.

Long Beach Police Department officers on patrol heard the shots around 7:35 p.m. and found the victim on Anaheim Street at Cedar Avenue, Lt. Aaron Alu said. The shooting took place just a block away on Chestnut Avenue, police said.

Paramedics took the man to a hospital for treatment of a wound not believed to be life-threatening, and his vital signs were stable, Alu said.

Through their preliminary investigation, officers determined the victim was on the sidewalk when he was approached by male adult suspects who shot him and fled in a SUV.

A short while later, officers found the suspect vehicle driving in the area of Seventh Street and Magnolia Avenue, police said. Officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle which led to the arrest of four suspects:

• Christian Mercado Romero, 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles, for attempted murder and assault with a firearm. Bail is set at $1 million.
• Javier Chavez, 21-year-old resident of Fresno, for attempted murder and assault with a firearm. Bail is set at $1 million.
• Francisco Quiroz, 21-year-old resident of Long Beach, was arrested for violation of parole. Quiroz is being held on a no-bail parole hold.
• Joe Santillan, 21-year-old resident of Long Beach, for attempted murder and public consumption of alcohol. Bail is set at $1.001 million.

At around 11:15 p.m., officers responded at Pacific Coast Highway and Daisy Avenue in the Washington neighborhood to a second shooting.

Upon arrival, officers contacted a man who, like the previous victim, said he was standing on the sidewalk when he was approached by three men who shot at him and fled the scene on foot.

The victim suffered gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body and was transported to a local hospital by the Long Beach Fire Department, police said; he is in critical condition.

Police said officers found evidence, including bullet casings for both shootings.

The motives for the shootings are unknown, but the first, police said, is possibly gang-related.

Detectives are investigating the shooting as possibly gang-related, he said.  The LBPD defines “gang-related” as a “criminal gang activity committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang.”

“At this time, there is no indication the incidents are related,” LBPD spokesperson Allison Gallagher said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated with more information from police.