Dozens of law enforcement officials descended on the Soboba Indian Reservation on Saturday night where a man was found fatally shot.

Deputies found a man with several gunshot wounds at the side of the road in the 43000 block of Castile Canyon Road at 9:11 p.m., Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Joe Borja said. Paramedics tried to perform CPR but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim was 21-year-old tribal member William Dusty Rhodes, of San Jacinto, sheriff's officials said. Authorities have not identified a suspect.

When deputies arrived, they encountered about 40 people near the gunshot victim and called for emergency back-up, sheriff's Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela said.

Sheriff's officials first reported a confrontation, but officers on the scene said the crowd followed directions and quickly dispersed, Borja said. The large number of officers responded to control the crowd and secure the crime scene, Borja said.

The reservation was teeming with police from Temecula, Hemet and San Jacinto as well as California Highway Patrol officers and sheriff's deputies that came and left the reservation in the hours that followed.

Since 2008, the Sheriff's Department and the tribe have mended their relationship following a series of high-profile confrontations, including two gunbattles with deputies that killed three tribal members.

"While it turns out that such a large show of force was not needed, the tribe's government understands the call for exercising caution to be sure that sufficient, as opposed to not enough, assistance is provided," Tribal Information Officer Mike Hiles said in a statement. "What is most important here is that a very communicative and mutually respectful relationship has evolved between the tribe and local law enforcement charged with responding to such occurrences."

Staff writer John F. Hill contributed to this report.

Reach John Asbury at 951-763-3451 or jasbury@PE.com