Youth Arrested in Shooting Death
A 13-year-old gang member is in custody at Juvenile Hall after the shooting death of a Harbor Gateway man during a Cinco de Mayo party Sunday afternoon, Los Angeles police said.
The Harbor Gateway teen-ager, whose identity was not released because of his age, was arrested by police shortly after the killing, said Detective Larry Kallestad.
The confrontation began with the youth riding his bicycle past a group of eight men celebrating Cinco de Mayo at an apartment building in the 1500 block of W. 226th Street. After waving a gun at the men, the boy was jeered by the adults. After riding some distance away, Kallestad said, the boy stopped. He fired two shots into the ground and then rode back toward the apartment building.
As the men scattered, one threw a bottle at the teen-ager, who then fired into the group, striking Justino Zavala, 35. Zavala died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
The boy was arrested by police an hour later when he returned to the scene of the shooting with a friend, Kallestad said.
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