One man killed, one woman injured in Hercules homicide

HERCULES, Calif. -- One person was killed and another was critically injured in an attack in a Hercules home Wednesday afternoon, according to police.

Police responded to Marigold Place around 2:45 p.m. after callers reported two men fighting, according to police Detective Connie Van Putten.

When officers arrived, they didn't see a fight. But as they reached the corner of Buttercup Court, a resident flagged them down and said they had seen two men fighting in the driveway of a house at 100 Buttercup Court. They described seeing one man on top of another man, choking him, Van Putten said.

Officers approached the house and did not see anyone outside, but did see a blood trail from a truck parked in the driveway to the closed garage door. They also saw what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol, however that gun was later determined to be a fake, Van Putten said.

Officers called for help before entering the house, where they found a seriously injured female victim. She was removed from the house and taken to John Muir Medical Center in critical condition.

A further search located a deceased male victim in the garage.

Romy Delumen is afraid his neighbor is the man who was found dead. He said the truck in the victim's driveway belongs to his neighbor who has a girlfriend. He also says the screen on his neighbor's back window was not broken on Tuesday.

"Normally it's not like that," Delumen said.

Van Putten said the victims were not shot, and the exact nature of their injuries remains undetermined. Police have not located a weapon but there were no reports of gunshots.

A man resembling the suspect description given by the reporting witness was located nearby on Marigold at Columbine Drive, and taken into custody. His identity has not yet been released.

Van Putten said the relationships among the victims and suspect have not yet been determined, and police do not yet know whether the victims actually lived in the home where they were found.

This is the first homicide in the neighborhood in the past two years.