Police searching for suspects in Walnut Creek shooting near Kasra Market; one bystander injured

The Walnut Creek Police Department is searching for two suspects in a Thursday shooting at a strip mall that left two adult men, including a bystander, with gunshot wounds.

Security camera footage of the parking lot of a strip mall on Newell Avenue and South Broadway, in front of the Kasra Market, shows three individuals get into a black Cadillac SUV parked facing the store. A silver Audi appears to pull up behind the SUV and two individuals, wearing facemasks and holding handguns, run up to the passenger’s side of the SUV.

The suspects, described as adult males with dark skin, immediately shot one victim seated in the passenger’s side of the vehicle, according to the police department. An individual seated in the back row of the Cadillac is seen exiting the car and laying down on the ground.

The driver of the Cadillac, identified by the police department as Detroit resident John Rankin, 28, returned fire on the two suspects, hitting a bystander that was seated in a nearby car, as well as a second parked vehicle. The video shows Rankin, wearing a black T-shirt, light-colored pants and a black facemask, run out of the SUV appearing to hold a handgun.

The two suspects then got back in their vehicle and drove away. Officers arrived on the scene about 6:23 p.m. and found broken glass, bullet casings and drops of blood, the department said. About 15 minutes later, officers learned two adult men had gone to hospitals with gunshot wounds.

Rankin was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into an occupied vehicle, and officers are asking for the public’s help in identifying the two other suspects. A motive for the shooting has not yet been determined.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Leonard at 925-256-3523.