Youth, 17, Arrested in Fatal Shooting of 3

A 17-year-old was arrested Friday as a suspect in a bloody June 3 vehicle-to-vehicle shooting at a Lynwood intersection that left three other teen-agers dead.

Sheriff’s deputies took the youth, whose name was not released because of his age, into custody about noon at his home in Downey and booked him on suspicion of murder at the sheriff’s Lynwood station, Deputy George Ducoulombier said. He was later transferred to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.

A hearing to determine if he is to be tried as an adult is expected to be held sometime next week, Ducoulombier said.

Killed in the June 3 incident were Robert Anderson, 19, Henry Oporto, 16, and Victor Perez, 19.

A fourth teen-ager, also 17, who was riding in the same car, escaped injury by ducking down into the rear seat.

The late model Oldsmobile, which Perez was driving, was the last in a four-car caravan that was traveling on California Avenue near Sanborn Avenue en route to a nearby party, according to investigators.

Two other vehicles--a white Toyota pickup truck and a two-door Datsun--pulled up to the Olds as it negotiated a turn and someone in the pickup yelled “Where you from?”

Before anyone could respond someone in the pickup began blasting with a shotgun. A second gunman armed with a hand weapon, then leaped from the Datsun and riddled the Olds with more gunfire. The man re-entered the car and both vehicles sped away.

The Toyota, which had been stolen in Bell Gardens, was later found abandoned about two blocks away.