17 Arrested in New Year’s Day Gang Shooting

Los Angeles police arrested 17 members of a Pacoima gang Wednesday morning following an investigation into a New Year’s Day shooting in which two residents of a public housing project who tried to stop a noisy disturbance were fired on and seriously wounded.

A gang member was also wounded by a stray bullet, police said.

Eight other suspects were being sought. During the early morning searches of 16 homes and gang hangouts, police confiscated 14 guns, including an assault rifle, detectives said.

Although police estimated the gang has more than 100 members, detectives said the arrests included several suspected leaders, which will disrupt the gang’s criminal activity, including a Pacoima cocaine sales network.

“You can’t wipe them out, but we think this will hit them pretty hard,” said Detective Cliff Ruff, head of the San Fernando Valley-based anti-gang unit. “We took a lot of guns away from them. Anytime you make this many arrests in one gang, it’s going to hurt.”

Police declined to identify the gang by name. Detective Robert Saurman said the investigation was prompted by a shooting at 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 in an alley at the San Fernando Gardens public housing complex.

Saurman said at least 25 gang members had congregated on New Year’s Eve in the alley, where a loud disturbance broke out shortly after midnight. Two residents, who are not gang members, left their apartments and approached the group.

“They went out to attempt to stop the noise or disturbance,” Saurman said. “Shortly after they turned to leave, a volley of shots were fired. At least 45 shots were fired. That’s how many shells we found.

“It left the two citizens seriously injured. Also shot and wounded was a member of their own gang who was standing too close to the victims at the time.”

Police declined to name the victims as a safety precaution. Saurman said the gang member and one of the residents remained hospitalized in serious condition Wednesday.

The shooting resulted in a wide-ranging investigation of the gang, police said. Early Wednesday, 60 detectives served search warrants at 16 locations, half of which were apartments in San Fernando Gardens, Saurman said.

The suspects included 11 juveniles and five adults who ranged in age from 14 to 22, detectives said. They were arrested on suspicion of crimes ranging from attempted murder to possession of drugs to receiving stolen property.

Ruff said police will ask the district attorney’s office to charge each suspect under the state’s 1-year-old street terrorism law, under which all gang members present at the shootings could be charged as co-conspirators even if they did not fire a weapon.