Cypress : Man Held in Shooting at Apartment Complex

A Fullerton man was in fair condition and a suspect was in police custody Wednesday night after a shooting at a Cypress apartment complex.

Eduardo A. Demelo, 24, was taken to Pioneer Hospital in Norwalk late Tuesday by an unknown person who left the hospital before police arrived, Police Sgt. Gene Komrosky said. Demelo suffered a gunshot wound to his jaw and a severed tongue, Komrosky said.

Demelo later was taken by helicopter to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where he underwent surgery Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police later booked George A. Faria, 25, into Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, Police Sgt. Jim Weuve said. He was held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Investigators believe that Faria had been living temporarily in the apartment complex, but they have no idea what the motive was for the shooting, Komrosky said. A police statement listed him as an Artesia resident.

Police learned of the shooting from deputies at the Lakewood station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and interviewed Demelo at the Norwalk hospital. He told investigators that he had been shot at an apartment in the 9000 block of Moody Street, near Lincoln Avenue, in Cypress.

There, police followed a trail of blood to an apartment, where their investigation was centered, and identified Faria as their suspect early Tuesday morning.

He was arrested at the apartment later in the day, Weuve said. “You know the old saying: They always return to the scene of the crime. Well, he did, and he got caught.”