Gang Violence Claims 4 More Lives in Southland

Gang violence that erupted throughout Los Angeles starting Friday evening has left four people dead and two injured, including one bystander critically wounded during a drive-by shooting, authorities said Saturday.

Hector Martinez, 24, of Los Angeles, a suspected gang member, was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting early Saturday as he walked down a street near downtown, according to Sgt. John Wickham of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police found Martinez at 1:18 a.m. lying dead on the sidewalk at the northwest corner of 9th Street and Westmoreland Avenue, Wickham said. Police say they have no suspects or motive.

In another gang-related slaying, police said Tony Deloa, 21, was killed shortly after 10 p.m. Friday in Southwest Los Angeles. Officers said Deloa was sitting with friends on a cinder-block wall at the corner of 25th Street and Magnolia Avenue, when a group of youths in a car drove by, yelled gang slogans and fired one blast from a shotgun. Deloa was taken to California Medical Center, where he died a short time later, according to Police Sgt. J.J. Reese.

In a drive-by shooting Friday night, in the 900 block of West 41st Street, police said Jose Martinez, 20, a suspected gang member, was wounded. He was reported in good condition at County-USC Medical Center.

In the Bell Gardens area late Friday, suspected gang member Jesus Guerrero, 19, was shot and killed and a bystander critically wounded during a drive-by shooting on Ira Avenue, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Dean Scoville said.

Scoville said Guerrero was shot in the chest by two youths who drove by in a dark sedan and yelled gang slogans before firing several times. Officers would only identify the bystander as a 31-year-old man. They said he was hit in the neck and shoulder and is in critical condition at County-USC Medical Center.

In East Los Angeles, Ronald Pena, 29, was killed during an apparent drive-by shooting Friday evening. Pena was found lying on South Eastman Avenue and was pronounced dead at Doctor’s Hospital shortly before 7 p.m., police said.