Sherman Oaks Campus Shaken by Gang Shooting

Police patrols were increased and the usual boisterous sounds of students dropped to somber murmurs Wednesday at Millikan Junior High School in Sherman Oaks, a day after a 14-year-old boy was gunned down in the suburban campus’ first gang shooting.

Some students, shaken by a first-hand lesson in the dangers of being young in Los Angeles, worried about being mistaken for a gang member. Others talked about hitting the floor at the sound of gunfire. One girl told a school counselor she worries that her jailed boyfriend might die violently because she realizes that youths her age can be killed.

Locker doors, usually slammed shut, were closed gently. Students walked slowly and quietly from room to room.

“It’s been eerily quiet,” said ninth-grade counselor Wendy Eller.

Alejandro Penaloza died Tuesday, about an hour after a single bullet ripped through his chest as he stood with several students on the northeast corner of the campus, at the intersection of Magnolia Boulevard and Sunnyslope Avenue.

It was the first act of fatal violence at the campus of 1,600 students that prides itself on polite, high-achieving students, said Principal Ernest Scarcelli.

Extra police patrols were added Wednesday to ease the fears of parents and students. Counselors talked to students and teachers about the reality of death. The shooting was discussed during early classes, in attempts to sort rumor from fact.

According to police, a man in a lowered white pickup truck pulled up and called Penaloza over. Seconds later, the boy was lying in a pool of blood on the pavement, a small-caliber bullet in his chest, and the truck was speeding away. The driver and a passenger were being sought Wednesday.

Students said they remembered seeing the truck several times in the past few days.

School nurse Susan Suranyi said she was chatting with other employees when a vice principal ran in with the news that a student had been shot. “We just ran out there as fast as we could,” Suranyi said.

Detectives said Tuesday that Penaloza was a gang member, but backed away from that statement Wednesday. “I prefer just to say that he is the 14-year-old victim of a gang-related shooting,” Lt. Warren Knowles said.

Flowers and a piece of paper bearing the letters “R.I.P.” were placed at the corner where he died.

The school band was scheduled to perform the annual spring concert Wednesday evening at the school auditorium, although music instructor Sarah Kang had to assure some parents that their children would be safe staying late. The Parent Teacher Student Assn. held its last meeting of the school year, but the agenda was changed to provide as much information about the death as possible.

Millikan teachers and parents said Tuesday’s shooting was an aberration. “This was an isolated situation and I hope it stays isolated,” said Pam Maury, president of the school’s PTSA. “I hope this is the end of it.”

Times staff writer Jim Herron-Zamora contributed to this article.