NATIONAL CITY — Police are looking for armed carjackers who shot a man five times in the back, leaving him critically wounded, and then may have staged another violent robbery in Ocean Beach. The 26-year-old victim, identified by police as Sean Simpson, had just gotten home from a friend’s house and was in the parking lot of his gated apartment on J Avenue near East Third Street about 1:10 a.m. when he was approached by two men, National City police Sgt. Mike Harlan said. Residents reported hearing gunshots and Simpson yelling for help, and when police arrived they found him lying on the ground. Simpson, who had just celebrated his birthday Wednesday, was not able to provide police with a description of the men, the sergeant said. Detectives taped off the parking lot, where they found numerous shell casings and interviewed several neighbors looking for witnesses. The car was described as a four-door, 2004 gray Toyota Corolla with California plates 5HLJ716. It is registered to Simpson’s fiancee’s mother, Harlan said. Simpson was rushed to an emergency room, where he underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition. “He’s fighting for his life,” Harlan said. About two hours later, three men in a similar vehicle pulled up to the Ocean Beach International Hostel on Newport Avenue near Cable Street, San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown said. Two of them got out and approached three women in their 20s visiting from Dublin, Ireland, who were sitting on the front steps, Brown said. One of the men grabbed one of the women by the arm, put a handgun against her cheek and told her to hand over her purse, Brown said. She thought at first that the man was joking and that the gun was a toy, but when she didn’t comply he got very aggressive with her, Brown said. He pressed the gun harder into her face and said, “Give me the (expletive) bag or I’ll shoot you,” the lieutenant said.
The men took the purses of all three women and drove off. The tourists, who were visiting friends at the hostel and staying elsewhere, lost phones, wallets and their passports, Brown said. The car was last seen heading east on Newport. The thieves were described as black, 20 to 25 years old, about 5 feet 9 to 6 feet tall, wearing dark hooded sweatshirts and gray bandannas covering their faces. National City and San Diego police detectives are working together on the case and are asking for the public’s help. “These crimes are very vicious, brutal and senseless,” Sgt. Mike Harlan said.