Gang Gunfire at Liquor Store Kills 1, Injures 3

A high school senior buying movie snacks at a Sun Valley liquor store was killed by a deadly spray of gang gunfire in an attack that left three other people injured, police said.

Francisco Edgardo Cuellar, 18, of Sun Valley died as he was leaving Jerry’s Liquor at 11010 Saticoy St. about 9:50 p.m. Saturday. The young man was out with friends when four men in a car pulled up outside the store and opened fire with a shotgun, Los Angeles Police Detective Mike Coffey said Sunday.

Cuellar, a senior at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, died instantly as a burst of pellets ripped through the store. He was not a gang member, police said.

Family members said Cuellar and friends went to the store, a popular gathering place for neighborhood residents, to buy snacks and sodas to eat while watching rented movies.

On Sunday, as family members and friends comforted each other, they remembered Cuellar as an earnest young man who tried hard and acted responsibly, describing him as the kind of young man who almost always brought his girlfriend home on time and who would call if they were going to be even a little late.

“He was more of a man than most,” said Cuellar’s stepfather, Elias M. Alcantar.

Injured in the attack were Roberto Sanchez, 21, and Juan Rojo, 22, both of Sun Valley, and a 15-year-old gang member from Panorama City. Coffey said Sanchez and Rojo are not gang members. All were in stable condition at local hospitals.

Coffey said the occupants of the car, believed to be gang members, drove up to the store, exchanged words with people mingling outside and fired two blasts before speeding off.

No one had been arrested Sunday.

Family members said Cuellar had planned to attend Valley College for two years before transferring to a four-year university to study business administration. Alcantar had hoped that he and Cuellar someday might go into business together.

“He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Jesus Renteria, the father of Cuellar’s girlfriend.