Drive-In Pulls ‘Angel Town’ After Shootings

Weekend gang shootings at theaters showing the movie “Angel Town” prompted at least one local drive-in to pull the film, authorities said Sunday.

“Angel Town,” which stars Theresa Saldana and Olivier Gruner, is the tale of a former kick boxer who moves in with a family living in gang territory.

Officials at the South Bay 6 drive-in complex, the scene of one of two gang-related shootings Friday night, told deputies that the theater would no longer show the film after Sunday night, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kenneth Brazile said. Theater officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

The other shooting occurred at a drive-in in Orange County, whose manager said the movie will be pulled.

At the South Bay 6, two alleged rival gang members--Rudy Valles, 16, and Troy Lucero, 20--were wounded as they strolled to the snack bar, Brazile said.

Valles, who was shot in the neck, was in stable condition Sunday at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; Lucero was treated for a gunshot wound to the hand and released from Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Long Beach.

Valles was wounded after he saw several rival gang members climb out of a car, one of them brandishing a handgun, Brazile said. Valles bolted through an opening in the fence surrounding the drive-in, but was shot by another group of youths outside the fence, the sergeant said, adding that there were no suspects in the incident.

Lucero was shot by an unknown gunman and managed to drive himself to the hospital, Brazile said.

“These two gangs have been at war for some time in our area,” he said of the gangs suspected in the South Bay 6 shooting. “The movie is not a catalyst. It’s just an opportunity for (gang members) to come together and shoot at each other.”

In an unrelated incident Friday, an 18-year-old suspected gang member was wounded in the chest when a fight involving more than 100 gang members erupted in gunfire at the Hi-Way Drive-In in Westminster, Orange County authorities said.

Joan Ruth, manager of the drive-in, said “Angel Town” would not be shown “until further notice.”