Retaliation Seen as Motive for Slaying

Gang members who were apparently retaliating for an earlier shooting at a Willowbrook house drove by the same house and opened fire with a shotgun, killing a man outside, sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

Michael Perales, 23, was in the driveway of the house when he was shot in the chest by one of a barrage of shots fired from a passing car about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sheriff’s homicide Lt. Dan Burt said.

The house, at Piru Street and Willowbrook Avenue, is a known hangout for gang members, but it was not immediately determined if Perales was affiliated with a gang, Burt said.

However, he apparently died as a result of gang rivalries that had triggered a shooting at the same house Tuesday night. In that shooting, someone in the house had fired at a passing car, Burt said.