Gang Ties to Killing Investigated : Police Probe Teen-Ager’s Shooting

Santa Ana police officers are investigating the possibility that the shooting death of a 14-year-old Westminster youth was gang-related, a police spokesman said Monday.

However, the family of Duy Duc Vu, a Westminster High School student who was slain in front of a home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Santa Ana shortly before midnight Friday, said they believe that the boy was an innocent victim who had not been involved with gang activity.

After being on life-support systems for several hours, Vu died of the single gunshot wound to his head late Saturday afternoon at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said that there are no suspects but that “investigators are looking into the shooting as being possibly gang-related.”

She said three unidentified Vietnamese men are being sought in connection with the shooting.

Helen Vu, the victim’s older sister, said the high school freshman “was not a member of a gang. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was there because he needed a ride home.”

Duy Duc Vu had attended a birthday party and was on his way home late Friday when the group of friends he was with stopped at a house on the 600 block of South Corta Drive in Santa Ana. The reason for the stop was not known, authorities said.

At about 11:55 p.m., Vu and his friends, who were assembled on the driveway of the home, saw a caravan of about five cars pull up and stop in front of the house. According to reports by Santa Ana police officials and family members, three males emerged from the cars and fired several rounds, using three handguns of unknown caliber. The crowd scattered, but not before one of the bullets struck Vu in the head as he was trying to hide behind a white Volkswagen parked nearby. No one else was injured, officials said.

The family gathered at the Vu house in Westminster Monday. Helen Vu said her brother “was the youngest of our family. His death has created a void in our home. Being the baby, he was loved by everyone. The first thing that he did each night was his homework. He loved to repair broken electronic things; he just wasn’t the type (to join a gang). He even maintained a friendship with a local policeman. He considered the man a mentor.”

She said that the teen, who was known as “Dukey” to family members, was an above-average student who loved music and enjoyed lifting weights and playing volleyball.

“Whatever we do now won’t bring him back,” she added. “We hope that this won’t happen to others. We don’t feel a need for revenge. Bloodshed won’t replace our loss.”