PROVIDENCE — A white minivan rolled down Bellevue Avenue in the West End and someone in the vehicle flashed the peace sign to two men sitting on the front porch of a house.

A few minutes later the minivan returned and, this time, a passenger began firing a gun. The two men on the porch were wounded, but not seriously.

The incident, according to the police, occurred Thursday at about 11 p.m. at 66 Bellevue. Shot once in the leg was Saran Mam, 42, of 97 Wesleyan Ave., in the Elmwood section, and shot once in the hand was Bunnara Nara Chao, 20, of 140 Bridgham St., in the West End.

All told, four to five shots were fired. Chao told the police that he knows the driver of the minivan as Shorty.

Maj. Stephen Campbell said detectives are investigating.

In an unrelated shooting, the police Thursday night arrested a 16-year-old Smith Hill youth and charged him with conspiracy to commit felony assault. The charge stems from the shooting of Alexander Reigosa, 34, of 51 Wayne St., also in the Smith Hill neighborhood, who was shot Tuesday night after an argument with another youth behind a house on Chalkstone Avenue.

Campbell said the 16-year-old, who did not fire the round that struck Reigosa in the face, was ordered held at the Rhode Island Training School. Reigosa is recovering in the hospital.