Boy, 16, Shot Deaf Brothers, Police Told : Crime: Two teen-agers say a Long Beach youth killed one and wounded the other when a dispute escalated.

A 16-year-old Long Beach boy is being sought as the gunman who shot two deaf brothers, killing one and wounding the other, in a scuffle in Granada Hills that witnesses said escalated from a stare-down contest between strangers at a traffic light, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

Police said the suspect was identified by two other teen-agers who came forward Wednesday and told detectives they were among a carload of youths involved in the confrontation that led to the shooting.

Cesar Vieira, 30, and Edward Vieira, 25, both of Palmdale, were shot Sunday night in a parking lot at the intersection of Devonshire Street and Balboa Boulevard. The older brother died early Monday of chest wounds. Edward Vieira was treated for hip and shoulder wounds at a hospital and released.

Edward Vieira told police he and his brother were riding on a motorcycle when they were forced off the road and into the parking lot by a car containing five teen-agers, police said.

During the ensuing confrontation, the brothers--who had limited speaking skills and normally communicated through sign language--were apparently unable to understand what was happening, police said. One of the teen-agers then opened fire with a handgun.

Police described the suspected gunman as an associate of members of a Skinhead gang based in West Los Angeles. However, detectives said the shooting of the Latino brothers apparently was not racially motivated.

The suspect’s name and other details of his background were not released because he is a juvenile, Detective Michael Brandt said.

Police said the boy has fled his home in Long Beach. Two other teen-age boys who were in the car during the incident were still being sought for questioning Thursday.

On Wednesday night, the two witnesses, a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, went with their parents to the Devonshire police station. Lt. Harvie Eubank said the teen-agers were “upset” by the shooting, particularly after learning that the brothers were deaf and may have not understood what was happening during the confrontation.

The boy and girl, who are not gang members, are not expected to be charged, Eubank said. However, their version of events differs from Edward Vieira’s account, he said.

According to Eubank, the two teen-agers said the shooting incident began when the teen-agers in the car and the men on the motorcycle started staring at each other at a traffic light. “They said it started as a stare-down contest and then somebody spit at the others and then they spit back,” Eubank said.

Police said it was unclear who spit first or, in fact, if any spitting occurred. Edward Vieira has told investigators he and his brother did nothing that would have brought on the attack.

After the car followed the motorcycle into the parking lot, at least two of the teen-agers got out, including the boy with the gun, police said.

“It was the kind of traffic dispute that are a dime a dozen,” Brandt said. “But in this case, one kid started shooting. The brothers did nothing to provoke that.”

The teen-agers who came forward told police they had no idea the incident would escalate into a shooting, Eubank said.

“These kids thought it was going to be a fight,” Eubank said. “They said they heard the first bang and saw Cesar was grazed with a bullet. They yelled, ‘No, don’t shoot!’ but this other kid kept firing.”