Suspect in Newport Pier Slaying Released From Jail : Investigation: District attorney concludes that the 18-year-old man, whom police say is an Ontario gang member, has not been identified as the gunman.

NEWPORT BEACH —  A man arrested on suspicion of murder after a gunfight between rival gangs at the Newport Pier was released from jail Sunday because of a lack of evidence against him, officials said Monday.

Enrique Morales, 18, who police say is a member of an Ontario gang, remains a suspect in the shootings that killed one man and wounded another, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Paer.

“He’s still a suspect, and so are some other people. No one has been exonerated,” said Paer, who works on the county’s juvenile gang unit. “Right now, the state of the case is there isn’t enough to file (charges) on this guy. There’s still a lot of stuff to be done on this case.”

Morales was arrested while riding in a pickup truck in a parking lot about a block from the pier shortly after the 1:30 a.m. shootings Saturday. Morales was identified as one of five members of an Ontario gang who confronted a group of Santa Ana gang members at the foot of the pier, Paer said.

“He was identified as having been present” during the confrontation but not necessarily as the shooter, Paer said.

Jorge Rico, 32, of Santa Ana, was killed during the shootings. Jose Ceja, 23, of Garden Grove, was critically wounded and remains in a local hospital, which police are not identifying for security reasons, said Sgt. Andy Gonis of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Gonis said police investigators believe the two groups of gang members did not plan to meet in Newport Beach but happened to run into each other at a circular courtyard about 50 feet from the bathrooms at the foot of the pier. About 10 members of the Santa Ana gang had been traveling in a rented black 40-foot stretch limousine after attending a concert and stopped at the pier to use the bathroom, police said.

The Santa Ana gang members were confronted by five to 10 Ontario gang members, including Morales, and words were exchanged, police said. Minutes later, the Ontario gang members opened fire and Rico and Ceja were each hit several times.

“We still don’t know what caused the shooting,” Gonis said.

Newport Beach police officers stopped the truck at gunpoint and arrested Morales without further incident, Gonis said. Several weapons were seized, but Gonis would not say which group was carrying them.

“There is a possibility that additional subjects and another vehicle were involved,” Gonis added.

Gonis said the decision not to file charges was made by the county district attorney’s office.

“We made the arrest because we had probable cause,” Gonis said. “In this case, it was their opinion not to file any charges. We were in the position that we no longer had enough evidence to hold him.”

The homicide was the third in Newport Beach this year. There were none last year, although two people were wounded in a similar shooting at the pier.