SAN DIEGO -- Police searched Friday for the person who shot two men on a Mountain View-area roadside, killing one and leaving the other hospitalized.

The fatal gun assault was the second in southeast San Diego over the first two days of 2003.

The attacker confronted the victims on a sidewalk in the 3700 block of Ocean View Boulevard about 8 p.m. Thursday and briefly spoke to them before pulling a pistol and opening fire, San Diego Police Department homicide Lt. Mike Hurley said.

Medics took the wounded to Scripps Mercy Hospital. Eddie Hogan, 25, of Logan Heights, died about 30 minutes later, according to the county Medical Examiner's Office.

The second man, whose name was withheld, was treated for wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening.

It was not immediately clear if the assailant was a gang member, officials said.

The shooting was about two miles northwest of one that killed two women, critically wounded an 8-year-old boy and sent a man to the emergency room less than 48 hours earlier.

About an hour into the new year, several gunmen drove up outside a liquor store in the 5000 block of Logan Avenue in the Lincoln Park district and opened fire into a crowd, unleashing as many as 50 rounds.

Killed were 45-year-old Carol Waites, who lived in the nearby Valencia Park area, and Sharon Burton, 32, of Temecula.

The boy was admitted to Children's Hospital in critical condition. The wounded man was treated and released.

Investigators believe that assault was gang-related. Five such shootings have occurred in neighborhoods to the south and east of downtown San Diego over the last month, resulting in four fatalities.