Gang Member, 16, Charged in Slaying

Murder charges have been filed against a Panorama City teen-ager in the death of a youth shot after his car was trapped by gang members on a Van Nuys street barricaded by police to reduce crime.

Police said the 16-year-old gang member, believed to have been the triggerman in the Oct. 20 shooting on Blythe Street, is being held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles police commander in the area said the concrete barrier is an effective deterrent to crime and will remain.

The youth was arrested Friday with three others, but prosecutors decided not to pursue charges against the others because of lack of evidence. Los Angeles Police Lt. Warren Knowles said investigators will continue to look for as many as six more suspects in the shooting.

According to police, the 16-year-old and three friends were lost when they made a wrong turn on Blythe, which has been barricaded at Willis Avenue for three years in an attempt to prevent drive-up drug sales. When the four turned around to leave the area, the street was blocked by the gang members.

The driver did not stop, forcing those in the street to scatter. At least two shots were fired, one of which hit the youth, who was sitting in the car’s back seat. Police have asked that the name of the victim and his friends be withheld as a precaution.

The incident prompted police to reevaluate the usefulness of the barricade, but Capt. Sidney K. Mills said Tuesday that the barrier remains an effective deterrent. He characterized the fatal shooting as “tragic, but isolated.”