2 Killed, 4 Wounded in Shooting at Auto Accessories Shop : Violence: Gunman strolls out of store and flees in a minivan. Three victims are critical while one is released from hospital.

GARDEN GROVE â€”  A gunman opened fire at a family-owned auto accessories store Monday, killing two people and injuring four others--three of them critically--before he casually tucked his handgun into his pants, climbed into a gray minivan and sped away with a waiting driver.

Police and paramedics found one body inside Robotek and another man shot to death in the front seat of his car in the mini-mall’s parking lot at 13120 Brookhurst St. Calls to 911 began pouring in just after 1:14 p.m.

“I heard seven to eight shots as I was approaching the shopping center,� said an 18-year-old who was riding his bike by the store. “I saw a guy stick something in front of his pants and walk slowly away.�

Three critically wounded victims were taken to UC Irvine Medical Center, including two teenagers and the owner of Robotek, 48-year-old Charlie Kim, who had been shot five times. A fourth victim, 15, was taken to Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the foot and later released.

Paramedics arrived minutes after the shooting and made a futile attempt to revive a man whom family members said was Tony Ngo, pulling his lifeless body out of the bullet-ridden car and onto the parking lot to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Monday was Ngo’s 18th birthday. The Bolsa Grande High graduate lived with his family in Fountain Valley, and was preparing to leave home for his freshman year at UC Davis.

Ngo’s close friend, Han Vo of Fountain Valley, also was inside the car when the gunman began pumping bullets through the windshield, his friends and relatives said. A bullet pierced Vo’s neck and grazed his hand, but the 17-year-old is expected to survive.

Police have not released the identity of the other person killed.

The motive for the bloody rampage was unknown, but detectives were checking possibilities that one of the suspects could have been a disgruntled customer or employee, said Police Sgt. Dennis Ellsworth, although no one in the store recognized the gunman. Police said another man also might have been driving the getaway car. A third man was seen running away, but police said he may have been a frightened bystander.

Witnesses told police the gunman was Asian, in his 20s, wearing basketball shorts. He had short-cropped hair with a long, bleached strand of hair.

The gunman and the driver were last seen headed east on Larson Avenue and north on Flower Street. Police said they were driving a gray Mazda MPV minivan with tinted windows.

Robotek, which Kim opened with his wife in 1995, drew a steady crowd of young customers from the ethnically diverse Garden Grove community and specialized in lowering cars and trucks and outfitting them with chrome wheel rims and other flashy accessories.

Kevin Lee was across the street from the storefront auto parts store when he heard the “pop pop pop� of a handgun. Lee saw a mechanic cowering behind a wall near Robotek’s auto bay.

“He was hiding,� said Lee, owner of Kevin’s Auto Center across Larson Avenue from the shooting scene. “I thought, ‘Something is going on. Something is wrong.’ Then I heard the gunshots.�

Lee ran back inside his shop, called 911, then dove behind a counter. When he peered out again, he saw Ngo dead in the parking lot.

Two of Ngo’s friends drove up to the store minutes after the shooting and saw the windshield shattered with bullets and his white tennis shoes sticking out of the car. They ran to get Ngo’s family, who own a Vietnamese restaurant blocks away.

Ngo’s mother arrived a short time later. When she learned of her son’s violent death, she went limp, sobbing in her brother’s arms.

“She wanted to identify the body but police wouldn’t let her, because they said it would jeopardize the investigation at this point,� said Ngo’s uncle, Gary Nguyen.

Another 18-year-old was fighting for his life at UC Irvine Medical Center on Monday afternoon, with his family, shocked and clearly distraught, waiting nervously in the hospital waiting room.

Edward Kim of Garden Grove was being treated for wounds to his back and abdomen and spent much of the day in the operating room.

The owner of Robotek, Kim, suffered gunshot wounds to his right side, cheek, arm, buttocks, thigh and neck, said hospital spokeswoman Kim Pine. Kim was out of surgery by 6 p.m. Charlie Kim and Edward Kim are not related, their relatives said.

Vo was also out of surgery by 6 p.m., and is expected to fully recover, Pine said.

*

Times staff writers Janet Wilson, Daniel Yi, Brady MacDonald, Kate Folmar, John O’Dell and Scott Gold contributed to this story.