TEHACHAPI, Calif. -- Residents in a Tehachapi area are worried and mad after several men allegedly shot and killed a deer off Woodford-Tehachapi Road.

The animal was shot out of season, it was a doe, and that led to the death of its fawn. Residents say their homes were also in danger.

"I heard three gun shots, and I walked on my front porch, and I looked across the road," neighbor Ina Whately told Eyewitness News. "I saw a car parked and a guy there looking over the edge of the road."

Whatley called the sheriff's department and she called another neighbor. In a few minutes, she saw one man carrying a deer. He appeared to stash it under a tree when the sheriff deputies showed up.

Sgt. Rick Wood said officers got to the area in eight minutes, and two men and a 17-year-old boy were found near the car. One man had four dead rabbits, but officers also followed shoe tracks from the car that led to the deer's body under the tree.

Neighbor say they knew the doe had just had a fawn, and they started to search for it. They went out several times hoping to rescue the animal, but with no luck. Tuesday morning, Wayne Whately found the fawn's carcass near a dry creek bed.

"It's sickening," said neighbor Greg Walters. He wants tough legal action against the suspects. "I'd like to see them prosecuted to the full extent of the law for it. Including the Fish and Game violations, I think you have trespassing and I think you have human endangerment. What if they had got a kid? One of our kids?"

The two adult suspects were arraigned in court in Mojave on Tuesday. Christian Reyes Lopez, 20, faces two charges of unlawful take of an animal, not having a hunting license, taking a deer out of season, and use of lead bullets.

Elias Zarate, 30, faces the same charges plus giving false identification to peace officers and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. No public information is available on charges against the juvenile. Sheriff officers say the group is from the Arvin area.

But, residents want more charges against the suspects -- especially for shooting off a road.

Wood said he's aware of the neighbors' concerns. "But, at the time we arrived we did not see anybody shooting from the roadway. Based on what we did see, we felt that the violations relating to the illegal hunting and the other offenses were occurring in our presence, so we did arrest on those."

Still, neighbors say they were in danger with the men shooting off the road just a quarter mile from their homes. "How do these guys know that when they take a shot down through here obviously people live in these homes, there's somebody down in there," said Walters. "It's just negligent in my opinion, reckless."

Wood agrees there is danger, even in a rural area like the one off Woodford-Tehachapi Road. "I know a lot of people who live in the area do shoot ground squirrels and other pests," said Wood. "But they're aware of where the other houses are, so they're usually pretty careful. It could have presented a real danger, it could have."

Sheriff deputies said they found a .22 caliber rifle and 12 gauge shotgun in the suspects' vehicle. They say the deer was found dead with fresh blood, and shot with a small caliber weapon.

The neighbors say they've been calling the Kern County District Attorney's office to ask for the toughest charges possible against the suspects. They want to send a message to these men, and to anyone that this kind of thing will not be tolerated. It's a loss of wildlife and it's dangerous for residents.

"Someday there's going to be a human life, not just an animal life -- which is bad enough because we love our animals out here," said Ina Whately. "But it's serious, it should be taken seriously."