A man was shot to death in an alley in Pomona early Tuesday, and hours later investigators still had no suspect, no motive and no clear explanation for what happened. Officers found him down with gunshot wounds to his upper body near Sixth Street and Buena Vista Avenue at about 12:45 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to mynewsla.com, officers responded to the area shortly before 1 a.m. and located the victim with wounds to his upper body. Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel arrived and pronounced him dead where he was found. Pomona police spokeswoman Aly Diaz said the motive, circumstances and suspect information remain under investigation, leaving the basic questions of who did this and why unanswered for now.
A Familiar, Unsettling Scene for Pomona
This is not the first time a Pomona alley has turned into a crime scene. In August 2022, a man was shot and killed in an alley in a different Pomona neighborhood over the weekend, and the coroner's office later identified him as Hector Zarate Jr., who had turned 35 the day before he was killed, per the same account. In that earlier case, police said they did not know the motive and had not identified a suspect, though they said they did not believe the attack was random.
More recently, in November 2025, a man was shot and killed at a home on W. Second Street near Hamilton Boulevard around 11 p.m., and his family told police the bullet had come from a nearby alley, according to ABC7. Investigators in that case said it was unclear whether the man had been randomly shot or deliberately targeted, and the victim had not been publicly identified at the time. No arrests had been reported in that shooting.
A Double Homicide Earlier This Year
Pomona also saw a deadlier incident in June, when a 48-year-old man was taken into custody after leading law enforcement on a pursuit lasting more than an hour, in connection with the shooting deaths of a man and a woman, as reported by KTLA. Officers had responded to the Monterey Station Apartments on East Monterey Avenue near North Garey Avenue just before 3:30 p.m. that day after reports of a shooting there.
What City Data Shows About Gun Violence
Pomona's own figures, published by the city, indicate the community has averaged roughly 55 homicides and non-fatal injury shootings per year in recent cycles, with a five-year floating average of 53.8 shootings from 2013 to 2017 and 56.6 shootings from 2018 to 2022, and the city has said its homicide rate consistently exceeds state and national rates. More recently, shootings and homicides have continued to draw attention in Pomona.
For now, Tuesday's shooting near Sixth Street and Buena Vista Avenue stands as an open case. Pomona police have not released the victim's identity, a suspect description or any indication of what led to the gunfire, and anyone with information has not yet been given a specific way to come forward, per the available reporting.
