LOCAL : Drive-By Shooting Fatal in Valley

A 20-year-old man was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting that occurred in an area of Sepulveda that was barricaded last year because of high crime, Los Angeles police said today.

Detectives said the suspects sped away from the Monday evening shooting through the one street entrance to the 12-square-block Columbus Avenue neighborhood that remains open to autos. No arrests were made.

Daniel Ray Anaya and his cousin, both of Sylmar, were going to visit a friend and were walking east on Rayen Street near Columbus Avenue when the shooting occurred about 5:30 p.m., Lt. L. A. Durrer said.

A 1-to-2-year-old, light brown car was heading north on Columbus Avenue and momentarily stopped at Rayen. Durrer said four people were in the car and, as it turned west on to Rayen, someone yelled from the car at the cousins and two shots were fired.

Anaya was struck once in the upper body. His cousin, whose name was not released, was uninjured. Anaya was taken to Panorama City Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The car sped west and left the neighborhood on Rayen, police said. Investigators declined to reveal what was yelled at the victims, but the words and the style of shooting have led them to conclude that the slaying was gang-related. However, Durrer said investigators know of no gang activity involving Anaya.

The neighborhood where the shooting took place has had four street entrances barricaded by police since Nov. 7, 1989, in an attempt to curb drug and gang crime. The only entrance and exit that remained open was Rayen Street at Sepulveda Boulevard.

Durrer said the Monday night shooting is the first slaying in the neighborhood since the barricades were put in place.

“The barricades had been putting a lid on crimes of violence in that neighborhood,” he said.