LIVE OAK — Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Sunday arrested a man who reportedly fired several shots into the air in the area of Winkle Drive and Soquel Avenue.

Anthony Martinez-Franco, 18, was charged with willful discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm with an altered identification and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Martinez-Franco

According to Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn, deputies responded to a call of shots fired at about 3:30 p.m. 

Multiple people called 911 and provided Martinez-Franco’s description, and said he was seen running into Emerald Bay Apartments. 

The deputies established a perimeter around the apartment complex, and found a 9mm shell casing near the intersection, Keehn said. 

They later saw a suspect matching Martinez-Franco’s description walking through the apartment complex and arrested him.

Deputies found a loaded handgun in Martinez-Franco’s backpack matched the caliber of the casing found at the scene.

No injuries were reported.

Santa Cruz Police, California Highway Patrol and Capitola Police Department assisted in the incident.

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General assignment reporter, covering nearly every beat. I specialize in feature stories, but equally skilled in hard and spot news. Pajaronian/Good Times/Press Banner reporter honored by CSBA. https://pajaronian.com/r-p-reporter-honored-by-csba/

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