A 27-year-old East Palo Alto man has been killed in an incident in which he was shot while driving his car and his vehicle then came to rest on the lawn of a house about a block away, San Mateo County Sheriff's officials said Saturday.

Sheriff's officials identified the victim of the shooting incident shortly before 3 a.m. Friday as Maurice Lavoy Rankin.

Sheriff's officials said that at 2:57 a.m. Friday, gunfire was heard in the vicinity of the 100 block of Jasmine Way in the "Gardens" area of East Palo Alto.

A few moments later, a small white car drove up onto a lawn at the corner house at Camellia Drive and Jasmine Way, authorities said.

The driver of the vehicle had been shot and residents in the area called 911 for help.

East Palo Alto police officers and paramedics from the Menlo Park Fire Department responded to the call.

Rankin was transported by ambulance to Stanford Hospital. He underwent surgery there but died a few hours later.

No suspects have been identified and a motive for the shooting is unknown at this time, Sheriff's officials said.

It appears that the shooting occurred a block west of where Rankin's car came to rest, authorities said. No witnesses to the shooting have been located and no one has come forward with pertinent information about the incident, which is the fifth homicide in East Palo Alto this year.

Sheriff's officials ask that witnesses to the shooting or anyone with information about the case call Sgt. Linda Gibbons at (650) 363-4063, Det. John Munsey at (650) 363-4017 or the anonymous witness line at 800-574-2700.

— Bay City News Service

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