Local News in Brief : Calabasas Youth Shot to Death Near Home; Classmate Sought

A 17-year-old Calabasas boy was shot to death near his home Friday morning in a spray of semi-automatic gunfire, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported. The victim was identified as Steven Redman.

A classmate of Redman’s at Calabasas High School was being sought in connection with the 10:50 a.m. shooting in 5300 block of Las Virgenes Road, said Lt. Barrett Fitzgerald.

Witnesses told investigators that Redman was driving his car south on Las Virgenes, toward the Ventura Freeway, when he apparently stopped in the middle of the road to talk to someone traveling in the other direction. An argument ensued and Redman was shot numerous times, falling dead in the middle of the roadway, Fitzgerald said.

A witness gave the license number of the car to deputies, who traced the vehicle to the classmate’s home in a woodsy, hillside neighborhood near Old Topanga Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway. Deputies would not identify the suspect.

Deputies from the Special Weapons and Tactics team were called to the home about 2:30 p.m. and tried to determine if anyone was inside by placing telephone calls and using a bullhorn.

About four hours later, deputies fired 26 rounds of tear gas into the house. They then entered the home but found no one inside, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.