STANTON : Drive-By Shooting Victim, 16, Is Stable

A 16-year-old girl was in stable condition Monday after being wounded in a drive-by shooting that took place while she socialized with friends on a street corner. The shooting happened in a neighborhood that residents said was a frequent site of violent gang activity.

There are no suspects in the shooting, which occurred Sunday night, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Lt. William Francis said. The only clue in the case, he said, is that a light blue or light green Datsun sedan carrying several passengers was reported leaving the scene at the corner of Oak Street and Central Avenue.

Francis said the girl, whose name was withheld because of her age, was “standing on the corner with a group of friends when the suspects’ car stopped near them, and three or four shots were fired from an unknown caliber gun.”

He said the gun was a pistol-style weapon, but he did not know how many shots hit the girl, where they hit her, or which hospital she was taken to.

Oak Street residents said violence in the area has increased dramatically in the past few years.

“I hear gunshots about once a week,” said Robert Lopez, 22. He said he didn’t know much about the Sunday shooting, but said the street corner is “one of the favorite places for the teen-agers to hang out.”

A 25-year Oak Street resident who asked not to be identified said a group of about 10 teen-agers between the ages of 14 and 17 have frequented the corner since police cracked down on their favorite hangout in a nearby park.

“They’re just small kids--13, 14, 15 or maybe even younger,” the resident said. “But they’re the ones getting into trouble.”

A two-year resident of the street, Olga Ruiz, said she and her husband plan to move because of a recent spate of violence.

“Every night you hear a fight,” Ruiz said. “It’s a bad neighborhood. We can’t even walk to the store at night.”