3 gang members charged in alleged racial killing
Three members of a Latino street gang have been charged in what police describe as the racially motivated killing of a black bowling alley worker last month in Canoga Park.
James Shamp, a 48-year-old father of two, was throwing out trash outside the Canoga Park Bowl on Dec. 22 when a car loaded with gang members pulled up next to him, authorities said.
One of them pulled out a gun and fatally shot Shamp in the chest, said Det. David Peteque of the Los Angeles Police Department. Shamp was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Most shootings we have can be related to narcotics and gang-related,” Peteque said. “But this was a family man -- he was a father of two, a good husband. He was at work doing his job and he was basically gunned down.”
Richard Bordelon, 21, and Martin Sotelo, 23, whom authorities identified as members of the Canoga Park Alabama gang, were each charged Friday with one count of murder and conspiracy to commit a crime because of race. Each man also was charged with one count of attempted second-degree robbery arising from a separate incident.
In addition, Sotelo was charged with one count of unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle and one count of evading an officer, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
A third suspect, 15, was charged in Juvenile Court with intentionally committing murder because of race, street gang killing and discharging a weapon, said district attorney’s spokeswoman Jane Robison.
All three suspects have pleaded not guilty.
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