Patrick John Greene was 30 when he was killed in a pre-dawn shooting on January 21, 2003, in the unincorporated area of El Cajon, California. Deputies from the Lemon Grove Sheriff’s Substation responded to reports of gunfire just before 6 a.m. on Willow Glen Drive and found two men on the side of the road with gunshot wounds. Both Greene and 17-year-old Christopher Brandon Vigil died; autopsies by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause of death for each as gunshot wounds and the manner of death as homicide.

The case initially went cold after investigators found no suspects, though the San Diego County Sheriff’s Homicide Unit continued to work the file. In March 2022 new evidence reportedly pointed to a suspect, and on April 13, 2022 agents from the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 45-year-old Michael Romero near his National City residence; he was booked on two counts of murder. The details of the evidence and the circumstances behind the killings have not been disclosed and the investigation is described as ongoing.

Anyone with information about Greene, Vigil, or the January 21, 2003 shooting is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.