Girl Shot Dead, 4 Others Injured in Gang-Related Drive-By Attacks

A flare-up of gang violence in Pacoima over the weekend claimed the life of a 17-year-old girl and left four other young people in the hospital.

The gunfire began near Paxton Park about 11:20 p.m. Saturday when four people were wounded in two drive-by shootings from the same car. The mayhem carried over into the early hours Sunday when a Sepulveda girl was fatally shot as she rode in the back seat of a car near Hansen Dam Park. Her name was not released because relatives had not been notified.

Police said the incidents were gang related but did not appear to be connected. No motive had been established late Sunday in either attack.

An 18-year-old man, whose name was not released, was arrested in the first drive-by shootings. Police were seeking other suspects in the incidents.

The four people injured in the first shootings--three young men and a girl--were in stable condition at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

The attack in which the girl died occurred about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Los Angeles Police Detective Marshall White said the girl was riding in a car with four teen-age friends in the 10900 block of Glenoaks Boulevard when two vehicles--a car and a pickup truck--pulled alongside.

White said at least five shots were fired from one of the vehicles, several striking the car and the girl. White said the girl was hit in the upper torso.

No one else was hurt in the attack, but the car could no longer be driven, police said.

The driver of the car pulled to the side of the road and sought help. White said two men took the girl to Holy Cross where she was pronounced dead at 1:53 a.m.

White said the girl was not a gang member.

The earlier incident took place near Paxton Street and Haddon Avenue. Lorenzo Martinez, 19, and David Sedillo, 20, both of Pacoima, were hit by bullets fired from a passing car, said Sgt. O’Neil Carter of the police department’s anti-gang unit.

Martinez was hit in the upper left leg and back, Sedillo in the upper right leg and left side, Carter said.

Moments later, George Cervantes, 18, of Sylmar and a 15-year-old Pacoima girl were sprayed by bullets from the same car near Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Chamberlain Street, police said. Carter said Cervantes was hit in the upper right arm, the girl in the foot as she tried to flee.

Carter said many people were in the area because of a party and that several party-goers apparently followed the injured youths to Holy Cross. The hospital called for police assistance to clear the crowd inside shortly after the wounded arrived. Hospital officials would not comment on the incident.

Police said that when they arrived at Holy Cross they saw vehicles speeding away from the hospital. Officers gave chase and arrested a man for possession of a shotgun in a vehicle, Carter said. He did not believe the shotgun was used in the attack. He said a handgun was the probable weapon.