Authorities ID Cockfighting Ranch Shooting Victim

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Following his death Sunday in a shooting at a cockfighting arena on a Lakeville Highway ranch, Julian Ramirez, 45, of Richmond was identified as the victim, Sonoma County sheriff's officials said. Ramirez was shot in the neck and chest area by one or more people, and bullet casings were found near the cockfighting arena, sheriff's office spokeswoman Misti D. Harris said.

The arena was located in an isolated grove of trees on the ranch with a secluded vineyard a few miles from Lakeville Highway.

Witnesses said several vehicles sped from the ranch southeast of Petaluma to Lakeville Highway after the shooting and some of the vehicles were caught on surveillance video, sheriff's officials said.

Three of Ramirez's family members drove him in the back of a truck to Petaluma Valley Hospital. When a family member called 9-1-1 en route, Petaluma police responded and got to the hospital around 11:30 a.m. It was then determined the shooting happened in the sheriff's jurisdiction, Harris said.

The man was transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where he died.

Some of the roosters that detectives found at the site had spurs and some were found in a pit nearby. Sonoma County Animal Control collected 15 live roosters, some of them injured, and 10 dead roosters, according to
sheriff's officials.

There were no descriptions of possible suspects.

The Sonoma County Alliance has offered a $2,500 reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 707-565-2185.

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By Bay City News Service