Shooting at Fast-Food Stand Kills 1, Injures 1

A father was fatally shot and his son seriously wounded Thursday night as they waited in the drive-through line of an In-N-Out Burger in Mission Hills, the apparent victims of gang-related violence, Los Angeles police said.

Robert Desantiago, 46, died during surgery at a nearby hospital where his son Louis, 24, drove him after the shooting. Both San Fernando residents were shot in the chest as they sat in their 1987 Suzuki Samurai outside the fast-food outlet at 11455 Laurel Canyon Blvd., near San Fernando Mission Boulevard, authorities said.

The younger Desantiago, who was also wounded in the left arm, was listed in stable condition Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Lt. Bernard Conine said a suspect approached the Desantiagos on foot and opened fire with a small-caliber handgun shortly before 11 p.m. He said the case was being treated as a gang-related homicide because police have information that Louis Desantiago has associated with area gangs.

Conine described the attacker as a male between 18 and 25 years old with a light complexion, big ears and nose, and between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall. He was wearing a white tank top and dark pants.

No bystanders were injured.

An In-N-Out spokesman, security director Larry Feemster, said restaurant employees were able to provide few details because “as soon as they heard the gunfire, they ducked down. They didn’t see anything.”