GARDEN GROVE : 3 Teen-Agers Held in Shotgun Death

Three teen-agers have been arrested in connection with the single shotgun blast that killed a 31-year-old man early Monday after he mistakenly accused the three of shoplifting from an all-night convenience store, police said.

David Eugene Davenport of Garden Grove died instantly in the 12:10 a.m. shooting in the parking lot outside a Circle K store at Brookhurst Street and Katella Avenue, Sgt. Phil Mason said.

Police said that Davenport, who was visiting a store clerk on duty, followed the youths outside because he suspected that they hadn’t paid for their merchandise. A verbal and physical fight ensued, and one of the youths, a 17-year-old boy, allegedly pulled a .20-gauge shotgun out of a car and fired it into Davenport’s face, Mason said.

At about 12:30 a.m., Orange County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 16-year-old girl and the 17-year-old on the Garden Grove Freeway near The City Drive, in a car matching one described by witnesses, Police Sgt. Douglas Morrill said. Their names were withheld because of their ages.

The third suspect, Cesar M. Sustait, 19, was arrested later at his Santa Ana home, and was held at the Garden Grove jail. The two other suspects were in Juvenile Hall on Monday. No shoplifting charges were filed because the group had paid for the merchandise, Mason said.

The Circle K clerk refused comment Monday.

“He’s pretty shook up,” said an employee contacted at the store, who declined to give a name. According to the employee, the suspects “paid for their stuff, but (Davenport) didn’t think they did. So when he went out there and asked . . . they got (ticked) off and shot him.”