Suspect in Gang Shooting of Girl, 12, Surrenders to Police

An alleged triggerman in a gang shootout last week that left a 12-year-old girl paralyzed from the waist down surrendered to Los Angeles police Tuesday, detectives said.

Roscoe Frederick, 20, of Los Angeles, was booked for investigation of attempted murder and held without bail, Detective Ray Monroy said. Frederick is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Compton Municipal Court.

Monroy said police are trying to identify at least four others involved in the shooting, including another alleged gang member suspected of firing shots.

In a related development, police said Tuesday that two teen-agers originally suspected of being gang members were innocent bystanders wounded in the April 29 gang fight. Monroy said that neither of the wounded youths were involved in the shooting.

The incident began at 3:30 p.m. as a shoving match between rival gang members in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant at Imperial Highway and Avalon Boulevard, police said.

A stray bullet hit Cindy Rodriguez as she went to the mailbox at her apartment building across the street from the restaurant. Doctors at Martin Luther King-Drew Medical Center said the bullet severed her spinal cord and damaged a kidney.

“A citizen who was really upset because the girl was paralyzed called after the shooting,” Monroy said. The caller knew who owned the Nissan Pathfinder in which four suspects fled, he said.

In addition, he said, the caller knew that one of the suspected gang members allegedly involved was named Roscoe. A police anti-gang unit found Frederick’s name and photo in its files, and one of the wounded teen-age boys identified him as having fired the shots, Monroy said.

Police served a search warrant at Frederick’s home Thursday and told his mother that he was wanted in connection with the shooting. Frederick was accompanied by his attorney when he surrendered Tuesday about 2:45 p.m. at the Southeast station, Monroy said.