4 Killed in 2 Drug-Linked Shootings

Two men and a woman were found slain Wednesday morning in a Los Angeles home that neighbors said had been the scene of regular drug trafficking in recent months.

A baby in the home was spared by the attackers, Los Angeles police said.

Across town in Van Nuys, police said a man was killed and the woman he lived with seriously injured when intruders broke into their home and shot them. The woman’s 4-year-old son, asleep in the next room, was unharmed.

“It looks like a drug-related shooting,” Van Nuys Detective Pat Anguiano said, but he released no other details.

Southwest Division detectives declined to identify the victims of the Los Angeles shooting or give details about their deaths, other than to say the slayings appeared to be drug-related.

Neighbor Consuelo Andreda said a steady stream of “well-dressed, collegiate types,” driving “smart” cars, trooped in and out of the small, white-frame home in the 3900 block of South 3rd Avenue at all hours of the day and night.

Expensive, late-model cars were parked in the driveway of the single-family home, which is distinguished from others on the block by heavy security bars on all the windows and a heavy, steel-mesh grate covering the front door.

Russell Ware, who lives next door, said he heard “a couple of thumps” about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday that may have been gunshots, but the wind was blowing and he assumed at the time that what he heard were oranges falling from a tree onto his roof.

After he got up Wednesday morning, Ware said, he noticed that the door of the white-frame house had blown open during the night. Later, he said, he saw a baby--believed to be the son of the woman victim--crawling out the door.

Ware said a man across the street, who was not identified, saw the baby and ran over to investigate. The man apparently called police, Ware said.

Neighbors said relatives have custody of the child.

In Van Nuys, a 35-year-old man was shot in his home in the 14300 block of Miranda Street. The victim’s name was not released pending notification of his family.

His roommate, Susan Yee, 32, was shot several times but survived. She was reported in serious condition at an undisclosed hospital, where she was under police guard.

2 Men Seen Fleeing

“It appeared that someone had broken through the door of the home and then shot them,” Detective Mel Arnold said.

Arnold said neighbors told police that two men were seen fleeing after the shooting.

The child was being cared for by the Department of Public Social Services.