1 Killed, 9 Hit in Drive-By Shooting

One man was slain and nine other people--including a 4-year-old boy--were wounded in an apparently gang-related drive-by shooting in Central Los Angeles Friday night, police reported.

The fatally wounded 19-year-old, who was not immediately identified, died at County-USC Medical Center about two hours after the 7:15 pm shooting at 46th Street and Raymond Ave.

Rodney Bragg, 16, who lives near the shooting site, said he saw some men in a brown Cadillac pull up and talk to a group of young people in front of a house in the 1200 block of 46th Street.

“All of a sudden they just opened up,” Bragg said. “There were about 20 shots, I guess. Maybe more than that. You could hear them hitting the trees and the houses--everything.”

Bragg said the car sped off, then turned around “and came back again to have a look. Then they turned around again for another look before they took off.”

Police said there were no arrests and no suspects were immediately identified.

Neighbors called police, and the wounded--most of whom were said to be young people--were transferred by Fire Department ambulances to five local hospitals. The 4-year-old was reported in stable condition at County-USC after treatment for four bullet wounds--two in the abdomen and one in each leg.

Deputy Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Rathburn, who was heading up the investigation, said preliminary findings indicated that one or more men fired “indiscriminately” from the car with a semi-automatic rifle, possibly an M-16.