OCEANSIDE -- An Oceanside High School graduate and former minor league baseball player was fatally shot in his driveway Thursday, authorities said.

The shooting happened about 10 a.m. in the 4700 block of Lofty Grove Drive in a tidy neighborhood between North and Olive avenues. Police detained and handcuffed two men nearby at Oceanside Boulevard and Temple Heights Drive.

Police have not released a possible motive for the shooting.

The medical examiner's office identified the shooting victim as Kenya Hunt, 34, who played in the minor leagues for the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants organizations in the early 1990s.

Hunt is survived by his mother, Linda Thompson, and a child, a medical examiner's investigator said Thursday.

"He was just a good man," said family friend Greg Stephens, who came to the scene Thursday to await more information about his friend.

Another friend, who did not want to be identified because he feared retribution by the assailants, said he is also a neighbor and saw the shooting. He said he stayed with Hunt until police and firefighters got there.

"He was just a great, great guy," the man said. "He was my best friend."

Both men said that Hunt and another man had been shot three times Feb. 14 in front of his home in a drive-by shooting.

Police Sgt. Leonard Mata said that the victim Thursday was standing in front of his home when he was confronted by two masked men and was shot by at least one of them. The assailants then ran away, Mata said.

Hunt was born in Banning and played football and baseball at Oceanside High School. He attended Mt. San Jacinto College, Palomar College and The Master's College. He was picked in the amateur draft by the Montreal Expos in 1990. He was selected in the 35th round in the 1994 June free agent draft by the San Diego Padres and played for one of their minor league teams, the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League. He later played in several other organizations, including with a San Francisco Giants minor league team.

Recently, he had been working with a moving company that had a contract with Camp Pendleton, said Hunt's former high school coach, Dave Barrett.

"Kenya was like a son. … I'm just in a state of shock," said Barrett, who said he had seen him recently. "He's so full of life. He's larger than life."

Barrett said Hunt was the school's alumni captain, played in all their games, and was always willing to help students and help the school's programs.

"Everyone felt like they were Kenya's best friend," Barrett said.

The high school coach said Hunt had agreed to play in their upcoming alumni game and he was unaware that Hunt had been shot last month.

As officers worked with cameras to document the scene, residents, standing behind yellow crime scene tape, eyed a wooden cane on the sidewalk in front of the house where the shooting occurred.

The friend, who declined to give his name, said he had just come outside when he heard the first shots ring out and turned to see Hunt get shot.

"I always come out on Thursday morning because the street sweepers come, and you want to make sure that the cars are moved off the street," the man said.

"In about the middle of the driveway, I heard the first two (shots)," the man said, adding that the shooter fired four more times before "he took off around the corner."

Officers had two men in custody, and the men were being questioned by police.

An unidentified police officer said one of the men was cooperating and was not a suspect, while the second man had an "elevated" status. The officer declined to say what the elevated status indicated.

On Feb. 14, at 12:30 a.m., two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the 4600 block of Lofty Grove Drive in east Oceanside, Mata said. He would not confirm Thursday that Hunt was one of the victims.

The victims -- a 34-year-old Oceanside man and 39-year-old Vista man -- had been sitting in a Humvee parked in front of a residence, Mata said.

A shooter in a westbound gray sedan fired "shots in rapid succession at the vehicle," hitting both men, Mata said at the time.

One victim was struck in the lower torso and the right hand, while the other was hit in the arm, Mata said. Both were taken to Scripps La Jolla Hospital, the sergeant said.

The shooter fled westbound in the sedan, Mata said. The motive for the shooting was unknown and Mata said then that "there's no evidence that it's gang-related, though it's not ruled out."

Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com.

Update

Two men arrested in Hunt homicide