San Diego

Two transvestites were killed in shootings Tuesday near the San Diego Wild Animal Park, authorities said.

The shootings were discovered when a park ranger making security rounds found a person standing in a dirt turnaround on the north side of San Pasqual Valley Road, about two miles east of the park’s main entrance, park spokesman Tom Hanscom said.

The subject’s head was drooping, and long hair covered his face, Hanscom said. The ranger radioed San Diego police, who have jurisdiction in the area.

When a police officer and the ranger arrived on the scene about 30 minutes later, the person was seated and slumped over, semi-conscious and covered with blood.

The officer thought the person, dressed in female clothing, was a woman suffering from cuts to her head, a police spokesman said. The victim was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, which informed police a few hours later that the subject was a male with a gunshot wound.

A few hours later, about 9 a.m., police found the body of another man wearing female clothing near the turnaround where the wounded man was found, police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

The names of the men were not released. Autopsies were scheduled for today.