Details emerge in deadly 2021 Gaslamp shooting spree

Chris Luciano rounded a Gaslamp Quarter corner and witnessed a killing.

He saw the gun first, held at the side of a darkly clad man walking up J Street toward Fifth Avenue — and toward him.

He saw the shooter open fire on a parking valet, who had been leaning on the valet station, perhaps scrolling through his phone. Nothing was said, Luciano recalled, just sudden gunfire.

“I froze,” the San Diego man testified Monday. “I watched the whole thing.”

New details emerged in court during the preliminary hearing for Travis Sarreshteh, accused of shooting and killing parking valet Justice Boldin then wounding four others just after 10:30 p.m. April 22, 2021.

Authorities say the gunman shot Boldin then walked about a block north up Fifth, barged through a group of tourists near Island Avenue, and again opened fire. Three New Jersey men in their 20s and a San Diego man in his late 60s were shot.

Sarreshteh, 33, has pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder, assault with a firearm and gun allegations. He faces upward of more than 100 years to life in prison if convicted.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, slated to wrap up Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers will decide if there is enough evidence to order Sarreshteh to stand trial.

On Monday, Weathers heard from witnesses to the attack on Boldin and from three of the shooting victims — two of whom had been seriously wounded.

The shootings started in front of the Pendry San Diego hotel, where Boldin was working. Luciano was walking his dog when he saw Boldin shot.

“Nothing was said,” Luciano testified. “All of the sudden, (the gunman) walked up and started shooting.”

Luciano said the gunman continued walking. Boldin fell and asked why he had been shot. The gunman turned around and shot Boldin again. The 28-year-old man died at the scene.

After shooting Boldin, the gunman walked on, now headed north on Fifth, “like nothing even happened. Very cold,” Luciano said.

Another witness to Boldin’s shooting said he saw the gunman walk up Fifth and into a crowd. “Then I remember several shots going off,” Jonathan Biggs said. He saw people fall.

New Jersey resident Vincent Gazzani was vacationing in San Diego with three friends, walking along Fifth and headed back to the hotel that night when they encountered a “disgruntled man” in a hoodie. He said the man yelled at them to get out of his way.

The man passed the group, Gazzani said. “He said, ‘Are you guys laughing at me?’ — and that’s when it happened.”

Gazzani was shot in the back. The bullet exited through his chest. He was also shot in the arm. He spent a week hospitalized. Two of his friends were also shot in the arm.

A fourth victim, Steven Ely, now 69, testified that he walked around a corner from Island onto Fifth when he was suddenly shot. He spent several days hospitalized, including eight in an intensive care unit. The bullet remains lodged in his spine.

Several witnesses said the gunman calmly walked away.

Authorities say Sarreshteh, who was barred from possessing a gun, used a “ghost gun” during the attack. Such guns are assembled from parts, often in kits. The parts have no serial numbers, and there are no barriers for anyone to purchase the parts.

The identity of the gunman may be at issue. Sarreshteh left the courtroom before most witnesses to the shootings took the stand. They were asked to describe the shooter before he was brought in.

After the shooting at Fifth and Island, witnesses followed and tackled who police said was the suspected gunman.

Sarreshteh was arrested that night. He remains jailed without bail.