Youth Who Issued Drive-By Warning Is Shot at School

Sixteen-year-old Steve Ortiz alerted officials at his Reseda high school Friday to a possible drive-by shooting. As Steve sat outside with friends hours later, he was shot in the leg by gang members who drove up in a car, police said.

The Los Angeles teen-ager was in guarded condition Friday evening after the incident, which occurred about 2:15 p.m. between classes at Grover Cleveland High School. Principal Ida Mae Windham identified Steve, a sophomore who is bused to the school, as a member of a mid-city gang.

Earlier in the day, Steve told a school police officer that a drive-by shooting might occur at the school, Windham said. Dan Isaacs, assistant superintendent of high schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said the report was too vague for authorities to act upon. A motive for the attack had not been determined.

Witnesses said Steve was sitting with 10 to 15 friends on bleachers on the south side of the campus when a car carrying between five and seven young men stopped on Strathern Street.

Los Angeles Police Detective Al Aird said several of the men got out of the car and approached the fence. At the same time, the students also began to walk toward the fence, shouting and flashing signs.

One of the men outside the fence fired a shot in the air, said Guillermo Munoz, 18, who was sitting with Steve on the bleachers. The man then fired twice into the crowd of students--hitting Steve in the upper left thigh--before fleeing, Munoz said.

Police had no suspects in custody Friday night, Aird said.

Christine Gomez, 15, a friend of Steve’s, said she had seen the car cruising around the campus during the past week.

Friends of the youth carried him to a nearby pickup, which took him to the school health center. He was later taken by ambulance to Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Assistant Principal Bob Kinsdeth said Friday’s attack was the first shooting that he could recall on the campus.

Teachers were alerted during an after-school meeting to listen for talk of retaliation when school resumes on Monday.

“We don’t anticipate any problems,” Kinsdeth said.