Suspect Held in Drive-By Killing of Youth, 17

A 17-year-old Westminster youth has been arrested in connection with last month’s drive-by shooting death of another teen-ager who was attending a party at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley, police said Tuesday.

The suspect, whose name was not released because of his age, was taken into custody Monday afternoon and charged with one count of murder, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Ed McErlain said.

The teen-ager was arrested at an undisclosed business at the corner of Magnolia Street and Hazard Avenue in Westminster, McErlain said. Under questioning, he admitted shooting Canh Van Tranh, 17, of Orange on Aug. 24, McErlain said.

Tranh was fatally wounded in the back shortly after 10:30 p.m. as he stood outside the Boys and Girls Clubs, 19699 Education Lane. He was attending a birthday party with about 100 Asian-American party-goers at the time, police said.

Police initially were hampered in their investigation because many of the witnesses had left the scene after the shooting without talking to detectives. Several witnesses came forward after police issued a plea for help through the media.

“We interviewed about a dozen witnesses and followed up on some leads . . . and took the suspect into custody without incident,” McErlain said.

The suspect is believed to be a gang member, as was Tranh, McErlain said. The cause of the shooting, however, apparently stemmed “from a prior disagreement” and was not gang-related, he said.

McErlain declined to say what the argument was about or if other arrests were pending. He said, however, that there were others in the car with the suspect and that the investigation is continuing.

About two hours after Tranh was felled, another car drove by and shots were fired at police as they investigated the area. Later that night, officers arrested Jose Munoz and Enrique Hernandez, both 20, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The attack on police had no connection to the slaying, investigators said.

Police are asking that anyone with information about the Tranh shooting call Investigator Richard Hooper at (714) 536-5951.