Violence Over the Weekend Takes 15 Lives

At least 15 people were killed in weekend violence, including a teen-ager and a man slain in drive-by shootings carried out by the same band of gang members, authorities said Sunday.

In the latest incident, two men were dead and a third critically wounded in a shoot-out at 69th Street and Muriel Avenue in Long Beach, sheriff’s deputies said.

Few details, including identities of the victims, were available, but detectives were questioning witnesses at the location.

In other shootings, a carload of gang members opened fire on a group of people south of downtown Los Angeles Saturday night, police said. Vincent Gomez, 16, died at County-USC Medical Center. A companion, Jose Martinez, was hospitalized in fair condition.

Two hours later and a few blocks away, a group of people was fired upon by men in a car, police said. Lawrence Washington, 23, was killed and three others were hurt. “It is believed the same suspects were involved in both incidents,” Sgt. Barry Ross said. There were no arrests.

In another incident south of downtown, an unidentified man in his mid-20s was shot to death early Sunday, Ross said.

In East Los Angeles, Moses Rojas was fatally shot Saturday evening by men yelling gang slogans from a car, sheriff’s deputies said. Rojas’ companion, Rubin Gomez, was seriously wounded in the back. There were no arrests, and it was not known whether the victims were also gang members.

In South Los Angeles, three men, David Lyons, Lawrence Thomas and Rodney Williams, were standing on a sidewalk about 6:35 p.m. Friday when gunmen in a car fired on them, police said.

Lyons, 24, died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. Williams was treated and released. No information was immediately available on Thomas. The motive was believed to be a dispute over gang territory, police said. No suspects were in custody.

In another gang-related attack, a man was critically wounded early Saturday in South Los Angeles, police said. The man, whose name was not released, was walking home when he was fired upon from a passing car. Wounded in the throat, shoulder and both legs, the man was in critical condition at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, Stokes said.

In other violence:

* Roberto Cossio, 20, was shot to death early Sunday as he approached his residence in the mid-city area, police said. There was no motive and no suspects.

* Also in the mid-city area, Tommy Lee Jordan, 56, was gunned down early Sunday by two men seen leaving the scene in Jordan’s 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with personalized license plates “TJORDAN,” police said.

* In Hancock Park, Michael Ell, 55, was shot to death during a robbery, police said. Two men were seen running from the scene, but no arrests were made.

* An employee of the Silver Lake Motel in Silver Lake, Kusama Tetsu, 28, was shot to death during a robbery there early Saturday.

* Juan Davila, 21, was shot to death Saturday afternoon on a sidewalk in Koreatown.

* Santiago Rivas, 31, was shot to death outside his home in the Mid- City area Friday night by three unknown assailants, police said.

* An unidentified man was stabbed to death early Saturday during an argument with two other men in downtown Los Angeles.

* A 17-year-old Cudahy boy was shot and killed Friday night.