2 Held in Shooting of Lakewood Man

Two men were in custody Saturday after a Lakewood man was wounded in the stomach in a 3 a.m. drive-by shooting in Wilmington, police said.

The victim is in stable condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Charles Johnson, 22, of Wilmington and Clyde Beasley, 24, of Lakewood, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of the 20-year-old man, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. John Wickham.

Wickham said the victim, whose name was not released, was standing on the sidewalk in the 1600 block of North Lagoon Avenue when a gray car cruised past. Sensing danger, the man ducked behind an electrical junction box as the driver of the car yelled out the window at him, Wickham said.

A short time later, the victim encountered the car again at Bayview Avenue and F Street, Wickham said. This time, he said, the men inside opened fire on the victim and a 16-year-old companion. The companion was uninjured, but the victim was rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with a gunshot wound in his stomach, Wickham said.

Police spotted the gray car about 40 minutes later, and the companion identified it, Wickham said. Johnson and Beasley are being held at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division, he said.